First Steps

“Then the LORD asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.””
‭‭Exodus‬ ‭4:11-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What is it about not knowing where I am going that makes me so frustrated? Some people are fine with spontaneity and going wherever the wind takes them but me, it gives me anxiety. I am the one who, when driving, needs my next three turns told to me in advanced just so I’m prepped for what is to come. I don’t do turn by turn. When I get into the car I open my Maps app and look at my whole route before I even leave my driveway. I know I can’t be the only one. For some reason it makes me feel more secure knowing my end at the beginning.  I don’t feel like I’m just hanging onto the last direction anxiously waiting to grip the next one with every passing moment. That’s way too vulnerable for me.

Yes I have control issues I know. This is probably why I found Moses story so interesting today. Here is Moses being spoken to by God almighty through a burning bush and the instruction he gets is, “Go, open your mouth and I will fill it.” Moses, just like I imagine I would, comes up with a million reasons why just going is and should not be an option.

What will they say? What will I say? How is this going to work? Who is going to make sure this works? Wait. I’m not qualified for this. Who on earth qualified me for this?

These are just a few of the questions going through Moses’ head. And probably some of the ones that go through our head when we are asked to do something out of our comfort zone.

Yet God said, “Just go and open your mouth”. He gave Moses the first step and simply promised to take it from there.

There have been so many times God has given me my first step but I have been so afraid to take it. I always want to plan things out to the very last detail. Just like in my driving, I want to know my destination and all the steps in between before I even leave my driveway. I can’t move . The vulberability of the next few undefined steps paralyzes me.

But I wonder if God is just asking me to take one step and one step only.

Open my mouth.

That’s it. Tiana, just open your mouth. Don’t try to fill in any other gaps. Just open your mouth.

That could look like a bunch of  things to you. Maybe God is saying just go and pick up the pen. Just go fill out that application. Just go and buy that domain. Just go make that one phone call. Just go and take that very first step and I will meet you in it.

The one guarantee Moses had in the one direction God gave him was that He would be with him the entire time, completely in control of everything. If that is the only guarantee we get from the Lord in our first step, then that should be enough. What if we stopped being so consumed with the big picture and started being so consumed with our big God. He’s right there in front of us and in that first step. We have to keep our eyes focused on Him and just move one foot in front of the other. Not worried about the distance between our current position and our goals, but only concerned about our obedience and our God.

What if we just took the first step?

Years ago my family and I went to family camp at Forest Home. During a family activity time my husband and I played a game with my oldest daughter in which one of us had to be blindfolded and lead the other to a specific destination by just our voices. It was a fun but very vulnerable game, in that you had to put your total trust simply in the voice and heart of the one leading you. I can still hear my then 3 year old daughter Jaeda calling out to her blindfolded daddy as she tried to lead him to his destination,  “Follow my voice Daddy. Follow my voice.”  She would repeat those words to her father for what seemed like a million times. He carefully and slowly put one foot in front of the other in hopes of reaching his goal, believing his daughter had his best interest in mind.

“Follow my voice daddy. Follow my voice”.  That’s all he got. The voice of his leader and the heart of his daughter leading him to the place he was called to go.

Friends, that’s sometimes all we get. The voice of our Leader and the heart of our Father calling out to us, simply saying, “Follow my voice child. Follow my voice.” Sure it’s vulnerable and scary at times, but we have to believe He has our best interest at heart and that it’s in that first step that He meets us. He meets us.

So, the next time we find ourselves sitting in driveways meticulously calculating the journey that lies ahead. Let us not become consumed with fear and uncertainty of our next step. Instead, let us hear these simple words of our God speaking to us through a Fathers heart, “Follow my voice child. Simply follow my voice.. ”

Questions to journal through:

What first step is God calling you to take right now?

Write the specific fears that have been holding you back from taking that step and begin to cover those in prayer and give them to the Lord.

Maybe you have difficulty with trusting the Lord in general. Why? Be honest with Him.

Write the name of one or two people you can tell about your first step and allow them to help keep you accountable.