[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:10] Hey friends. Welcome back to another edition of the weekday podcast. So glad you're with us this week. Our hope is that you're having a great season getting ready for Christmas Today, I want to talk about the power of just one step. I think most of us wish God would give us clarity before asking for our obedience. We want the whole plan up front. We want to see steps one through 10 before we take step number one. We're like the person who needs that detailed itinerary before leaving the house. We're knowing where we're going, when we're getting there, where we're parking, what the WI fi situation is, whether there will be snacks, preferably with a backup snack plan. But Scripture shows us over and over again a different pattern that God speaks and as people are invited to trust even when the details are foggy. When we think about Mary's story in Luke Chapter one, Mary responds with a courageous yes. She responds to that announcement from the angel. She says something that takes my breath away. She said, behold the bondslave of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. Mary didn't have a roadmap. She didn't have clarity. She didn't even have a guarantee that Joseph wasn't going to walk away. But she said yes anyway.
[00:01:21] Not because she understands everything, but because she trusts the one who does. Her yes wasn't passive. It wasn't naive. It was a declaration of willing surrender rooted in God's character. Essentially, she's echoing Abraham, who went out not knowing where he was going. She's following the prophets who obeyed without seeing the full picture. And here's what this teaches us. Courage. It isn't the absence of uncertainty. Courage is the decision to trust God inside uncertainty.
[00:01:50] Obedience before clarity. So the principle today is that joy grows when courage says yes before certainty shows up. Often we want clarity before obedience. But God often gives calling before clarity. You sense God nudging you towards a hard conversation, but you don't know how the other person will respond. Or you feel I'm leading you towards forgiveness, but you're not sure your heart is ready. Or he stirs something new in you. A calling, an opportunity, a risk.
[00:02:17] But the what ifs pile up quickly.
[00:02:20] These are the moments where courage has to speak louder than certainty. Because obedience always precedes understanding. So today I want to encourage you to ask yourself this question. What has God already shown me? Now, you might not know step seven, but you probably know step one. So take it. Make the phone call. Send the email. Start the conversation begin the process. Don't worry about the whole path. Just. Just take one faithful step. Because, Joy, it doesn't meet us at the finish line. It meets us at the very first. Yeah. Remember, obedience comes before clarity every single time. Have a great day. We'll see you back here soon.
