Small Steps Count

Disclaimer:Nothing in this blog post is intended to be considered medical or mental health advice or treatment. It’s written from the perspective of the author’s lived experience and reflects personal views expressed with the intent to encourage and share hope.

Sometimes, in the vicissitudes of life, there are steps we have known we needed to take…and it becomes time to walk it out.

Even if the climb looks high.

Even if the weather changes.

Even if life is still happening around us.

Even if there are bills coming due, health concerns to pray through, responsibilities to manage, and people nearby who may or may not understand what this step means to us.

At some point, the next step still has to be taken.

Not perfectly.

Not all at once.

Not with every detail figured out.

But faithfully.

Small steps still count

Think about the first time a kitten begins to scoot around on a soft blanket while its mother sits nearby, watching. That tiny creature does not stop to wonder, “How do I look? Am I doing this right? What is everyone else doing while I am trying to learn how to walk?”

No.

The kitten just scoots.

Then it scoots again.

And…again.

Day after day, those little movements help build strength. The legs, feet, muscles, bones, and balance begin to develop. Then one day, that same little kitten is leaping around, chasing its own shadow, and going places it once could not go.

That is often how growth often looks for us too.

A small movement, and repeated effort. A little more strength, and a little more confidence. Eventually, something that once felt impossible becomes part of how we live.

When fear talks back

Maybe there is something you have wanted to do for a long time–a habit you know would help you or a step in life that you keep picturing, but fear keeps interrupting your imagination. You may envision the good that could come from doing the work, but then defeated thoughts try to follow behind it such as:

“That will never be me.”

“I should stick with what I know.”

“What if this is too hard?”

“What if I cannot handle what changes?”

“What if I try and it does not work?”

Those thoughts can feel convincing, especially when you have already been through difficult things. But…the image you are seeing of growth, healing, obedience, strength, or change may not be as impossible as fear says it is. At times, what we call “the unknown” is really the next version of faithfulness we have not walked into yet.

Keep walking past the distractions

Every good step may come with distractions. Discouragement and discomfort may rear their heads at memories of what did not work before or .

There may be little irritating things that try to get your attention, like flies at a picnic or wasps near a tree on the trail. But not every distraction needs your full attention.

You do not have to stop walking to swat at everything. Not every interruption is a reason to lose momentum or quit. Keep walking in the direction God is leading you, and let the distractions pass on by.

There is more to see up ahead.

There is more life to experience.

There is more growth to step into.

There may be more strength, creativity, wisdom, confidence, and purpose waiting on the other side of the step you keep postponing.

But the steps will not walk themselves.

God helps us, but we still participate

God can do anything He wants to do.

He can heal instantly…strengthen supernaturally…open doors no person could open.

He can give us grace, courage, wisdom, energy, and help we did not have on our own.

But most of the time, God also invites us to participate in the process. He may not move our feet for us. We may naturally need to take the next step with Him.

That may look like praying and then making the appointment, practicing the skill, changing the habit, asking for help, or showing up again.

Faith does not always mean waiting for everything to feel easy.

Sometimes faith means moving forward knowing that God goes with us.

Learning to walk again

I learned this in a deeper way when I had to retrain my body to walk correctly again.

There was a time when my hip and one of my legs had been weakened for months after a severe allergic reaction, I had to face the question of what I truly wanted. There were some other minor complications involved, since we did not then know what ingredients were involved with the body’s response, and I was still using other things that contained the particular allergens. Until some dots were connected by multiple doctors, I was left to decide:

Did I want to at least try to walk properly…or did I want to stay on the couch and hurt more, reasoning to myself that I would not risk falling on walks alone?

Did I want to see whether I could move decently without relying on a cane or walker as often? (It was that serious for a little over half a year.)

Or did I only want to remember that I once could?

I was still fairly young. There were moments when it would have been easy to sit down and say, “I will never get this right. It hurts too much…I’m walking slow…It’s foolish to try….” Because I had been attacked on a walk as a teen, there was the memory of how even though I was walking quickly, it was because I slowed down to pay attention to a group of people behaving foolishly, and did not immediately let go of what I was holding, that they succeeded to the extent they did. Since that was the case, it seemed like a terrible idea to try walking alone or with my kids if I did not believe I could get a lot of good kicks and arm chops in with one arm, or get up quickly and run if it happened again. So I stayed in a lot.

As someone who loves to be outside and be refreshed by a walk in nature, this was difficult for me in multiple ways. It would have been easy to focus only on what felt worse. It would have been easy to settle into what I could still do and stop reaching for more. After all, in the comfort zone, I was able to sit and write far more than when was working and volunteering. I was able to study more or practice new skills.

But eventually, I began to look into what could help me walk better, because there is only so much sitting a person can take, and the household tasks were taking far too long. I wanted to be physically strong again and get outside, be able to jog with my kids when they wanted to.

So I kept getting up to practice walking, walked in place and worked my arms and shoulders a lot, did lots of stretches and exercises, and consulted with skilled people instead of consulting only with my fear. I paid attention to what my body could do when I tried. I prayed, practiced, struggled. Yes, I had discouraging thoughts and moments of self-pity–especially when going places in public, before my walking was under decent control. But I also kept going.

God was kind to me in the middle of it.

“Do you want to be well?”

There was a moment when I felt deeply challenged by the question Jesus asked the man beside the pool who had been sick with a condition for a long time:

“Do you want to be well?”

That question did not feel harsh.

It was loving, and it invited me to stop only thinking about healing and begin participating in the process of healing.

Eventually, I began to walk better again and got answers about my allergies.

I will take progress over standing still in defeat.

I will take the next step with God, even if I have to take it slowly.

Prayer, treatment, and the work of healing

I fully believe that prayer mattered in my healing process.

I also believe the decision to trust that my setback could be temporary helped. The right treatment, support, practice, and effort mattered too. If the condition had not changed, I would have needed to adjust to a new normal, and I would have. But I did not need to do so.

All of that is to say: the win was not just because of me and my own effort…but I did have to work on my mindset and make a real effort. If I wanted to move, I had to actually move, build new muscle memory, notice small signs of progress, and be grateful.

I had to say, “Oh, look at that. This moved differently today. Maybe I can do this again and stretch or push myself a little more.”

At the same time, I had to accept that even if things did not turn out the way I hoped, God would still be good. That is part of walking by faith too.

We prayerfully do what we can with what we have while seeking wisdom. We do the next right thing while trusting God with the outcome. Deep down, many of us know the difference between when we have truly given something our best and when fear has talked us out of trying. Trusting God will help us do our best no matter what.

Whatever your next steps are

Whatever your steps are, I pray you walk with courage, faith, and confidence that God is with you.

He goes with you.

He goes before you.

He is for you.

Wherever He is leading you, you do not have to walk there alone. Whatever He is helping you build, you do not have to build it in your own strength. Whatever habit, healing, responsibility, dream, obedience, or change is in front of you, the next step can begin small.

Remember to celebrate

When you get to where you are going, pause before rushing into the next thing.

Celebrate first. Look at how far you have come. Be grateful for the obstacles God helped you get through. Rejoice for the strength that returned. Cheer for the courage it took to begin. Celebrate the small steps that became progress. In fact, do not wait until the end–celebrate along the way. Encourage yourself.

Remember what God has already brought you through. Notice the growth that is happening, even if it is not finished yet.

When staying stuck Is no longer an option

Once you realize that staying stuck is not where God is asking you to remain, the next step becomes clearer.

You may still feel tired or worn down from the struggle for your focus, and you may still need help, rest, wisdom, and support. But you may also be surprised by what begins to come back.

Your focus can be lifted higher toward God, healing, wisdom, and the life He is helping you walk out.

Reflection

Take a moment to consider:

What is one step you have known you need to take, but fear or discouragement has kept delaying?

Where might God be inviting you to participate in your own growth, healing, or change?

What small movement could help you begin building new “muscle memory” in this area of life?

What distractions do you need to stop swatting at so you can keep walking forward?

How can you celebrate progress along the way, instead of waiting until everything is finished?

Prayer

Lord, thank You for walking with me through every season of growth, healing, and change. Thank You that I do not have to take every step perfectly for the step to matter.

Help me recognize where You are inviting me to move forward. Give me courage to begin, wisdom to seek the right help, and humility to keep learning. Strengthen me where I feel weak. Encourage me where I feel tired. Remind me that small steps still count when they are taken with You.

Teach me not to be discouraged by slow progress. Help me build new habits, new strength, new confidence, and new faithfulness one step at a time.

When fear tries to speak louder than truth, help me remember that You are with me, You are for me, and You are able to lead me forward.

In Jesus’ name, amen.

Closing Thoughts

The next step may not look impressive at first–it may look small, slow, or ordinary. It may look like scooting before walking, walking before climbing, and climbing before running.

Small faithful steps can become strength.

Strength can become confidence.

Confidence can become movement.

Movement–with God–can become a testimony.

You do not have to have everything figured out before you begin, and you do not need to feel fearless before you take the step. You do not have to walk perfectly for your progress to be real.

God is with you.

God is for you.

With Him, you can keep walking…and every step counts. Even the small steps.