Overwhelm does not feel nice. In fact, it feels like a fierce assault on your senses that can leave you spinning, not knowing which way to turn.

In those moments when a million messages are flooding your brain, and a googol of voices are pulling you in every direction, remember this one choice fact.

The only step you need to take is the next one.

Take a breath.

That’s why the Scriptures teach us that even though it’s healthy and right to plan our way, consider our options, and built toward an envisioned end, God directs our steps.

“A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure.” (Proverbs 16:9 AMP)

The Lord directs our steps and makes them sure.

When you are groping for some certainty, the question to ask is simply, “What’s my next step?”

Not steps, not leaps, not milestones or missions.

Step.

Then open your heart to hear, not hustle.

https://davidleemartin.com/the-only-step-you-need-to-take-is-the-next-one/

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00:00:03.190]
Hey there, it’s great to be with you again. It’s David here. I’d like to ask before you listen to today’s episode that you would forgive the sound quality, juggling too many balls here. Isn’t it funny that I would actually create a podcast about overwhelm and actually be juggling too many plates during the day? Probably actually not exercising some of what I actually say, and I forgot to correctly place the mike. So the sound quality here is a little less than I would generally like to bring to you.

00:00:49.480]
So if I can just ask for your forgiveness on that one. But the message nevertheless is still a very timely one and one that I think you’ll get a lot of value out of. Well, good afternoon if you’re in the U.K., good afternoon, anyway’s, wherever else you may be in the world. Good whenever. Today I want to talk about something. I was talking with a friend yesterday and we were talking about how easy it is sometimes to get caught up in just feeling overwhelmed with the number of different things you have to do when I live a what what, what some people might refer to as a lap top lifestyle.

00:01:36.710]
Yes, I actually make my living from my laptop. You know, I just on my my digital devices are essentially my office. I’m a writer and a publisher. That’s largely what I do. And then kind of media like this, teaching and training. I particularly love working with Christian artists, entrepreneurs, creatives, authors and writers in that Christian space. That’s that’s really where I feel most at home. I feel as though there’s a kind of an anointing and a calling to shepherd the gifts in people.

00:02:16.250]
Both Larna and I have over the years proven that God can actually work through us, thankfully. Thank you. Thank you so much, Lord. To actually draw the gifts out of others helped people recognise, realise their gifts and then crystallise those gifts into something that they can then kind of get out and share with the world. So but in talking with this friend yesterday and I totally related sometimes all of the different things that we need to do and the can feel overwhelming, you know, and I can only talk from my own perspective in the digital space.

00:02:56.450]
But I think this is true in pretty much whatever industry you’re in. What you know, life is just sometimes overwhelming, just like managing a family, managing the different things that we do can be very, very overwhelming. And but I’ve found that the simplest key to addressing the overwhelming issue, and it’s really so simple that it hardly needs to be shared. But I think it’s worth sharing is to just really remember that the only step that we need to take is the next one.

00:03:38.180]
The only step that we need to take is the next one. It is as simple as that. There’s nothing complicated about living a productive lifestyle. When you boil it down to this one thing that really you can’t take five steps at once. You can’t take fifteen steps once you take it step by step. Now, there’s nothing wrong with the visionary plans. There’s nothing wrong with setting goals and kind of framing your future and really looking to plan towards a particular end.

00:04:17.660]
But truth be told, I was reminded of this scripture in the Book of Proverbs, and it says, if a man’s mind plans his way and in this, I don’t believe that the Holy Ghost is trying to dissuade us from doing that. You know, so we’re not he has no intention for you to stumble and fumble your way through life without vision. As we know there. Elsewhere in that same book, we’re told that without vision, people cast off restraint.

00:04:52.550]
Without vision, people perish. So so there is there’s it’s it’s not that we should not be making plans. It’s not that we should not be taking time to think and consider what we are doing, why we are doing it and these and the things that potentially we need to learn or do or connexions we need to make to work towards our stated end and that that desire. But the truth is this scripture reveals something so perfectly simple that will help us attain that without burning out, without freaking out.

00:05:37.940]
And it really comes back to something that I shared a few days ago about the Jesus said that my yoke is easy, my burden is light, my yoke is easy. It’s going to be well fitting. And it says here that we can plan our way. But the Lord directs us steps and makes them sure. And I think what. I want to highlight today is that the Lord directs our steps. He doesn’t necessarily direct our lips. He’s not like their beam.

00:06:15.030]
Beam me up, Scotty, and takes us on some kind of, like, interstellar leap. We don’t have to go through a wormhole or some kind of magical portal to become the person that we believe God has created us to be. We just have to take the next step in consultation and conversation with the Holy Ghost. We have to allow we can make our plans, but then we bring those plans before God. We lay them out before him.

00:06:47.680]
And instead of being overwhelmed by the number of working parts that need to be in place just each step of the way say, God, what do I need to do next? Because you know that we can fall into the trap of thinking that more is more, that if we do, more will get more. If we run faster, we’ll get there quicker. But oftentimes it’s not doing more. That is the answer. It’s it’s not doing more things.

00:07:19.750]
It’s like oftentimes actually doing less things, to be honest. But it really comes down to doing the right thing. At the right time, it comes down to doing the right thing and doing that thing right, doing it and doing it in the right way. Productivity, prosperity, growth and expansion really comes from doing the right thing and doing that thing right. So we’re not expending our energy. We’re not bleeding money. We’re not bleeding energy. We’re not bleeding our thoughts and attention doing a bunch of stuff and spinning a bunch of plates that really at this given moment in time.

00:08:06.600]
I’m not saying that, you know, somewhere else in the equation on some other day, at some other time, that those things may not be useful. But oftentimes it does not take much for us to just take a moment real back in and consider look, there are all of these things that I can do. There are all of these things that potentially would be ideal if they were in place right now. But at this very moment, what do I need to do?

00:08:39.810]
The only step that you need to take is the next step. And, you know, her ego might fight with that. Again, I was reminded from the scriptures about this. This warrior called Nayman. Nayman had a problem and a name and went to the prophet in Israel and said, look, I’ve got this problem. It was a fairly serious problem. The guy had leprosy, but so you had a problem. He went to the place where he could find the answer.

00:09:14.130]
And because the answer was very common and very ordinary, not very exciting, you know, wasn’t like climbing the spaceship and doing interstellar kind of transmutation. It was just simply go down to the Jordan and dip seven times. And I think sometimes, you know, we we want the excitement. We are looking instead of for looking for the supernatural. We looking for this spectacular. But actually sometimes the steps that the Holy Spirit might give you. And I say steps, actually, I mean, step could be something as simple as, you know, send an email, read this chapter of this book.

00:09:59.430]
Yeah. It could be take a nap. It could be go to sleep for an hour, you know, give yourself some some recuperation, call a friend, contact a coach, make a list if that’s helpful. Go for a walk, write a paragraph. OK, it could be anything. It really does need to be something that’s defined and something that you can do in a short amount of time. That’s the key to this is something that you can do in a short amount of time.

00:10:34.140]
And, you know, finish. My novel is not a great next step. You know, a better next step might be I’m going to write the next two paragraphs in Chapter five of my book in case it’s something that’s very defined and that generally I like to work where it is something that I can accomplish within a few hours. And so I encourage you, you know, if you are in that place of overwhelm, switch off the noise that the world is always going to be kind of knocking on your door and banging on your door, trying to get you to kind of run faster, do more, get more, spend more, be more.

00:11:22.230]
But just take a breath and ask allow the Holy Spirit. Remember, a man can make his plans and make his way in his mind. But the Lord is the one who will direct his steps. What today in order to realise and fulfil what I believe I’m called to be and to become what today is the next step. Scratch the arse, what is the next step, not steps that I need to take. Well, thanks for listening, hopefully.

00:12:00.730]
It’s been an encouragement to you today, if you want to connect any further, you can do so through my website at Davidleemartin.com. Have a great day.