Step Stools

Not long ago, I couldn't sleep and was praying about something when God interrupted my prayer by showing me something unexpected. It was a nesting set of step-stools. They fit inside each other, each one a little larger than the next one, like a set of Russian nesting dolls. The were stacked neatly together and slid under the counter top of the breakfast bar in a kitchen.

As I watched, I saw myself slide the smallest stool out of the stack and set it on the counter. It was tiny, about 10 inches tall and 6 inches wide. I was annoyed because it was useless! It would support my weight, sure, but I couldn't use it to climb up there because it was too short and the counter-top was too high up. And this stupid little stool wasn't wide enough to sit on comfortably! So what was the point of having it-- or the next larger stool, for that matter?

As I pondered this, the phrase "Despise not the day of small beginnings" came to mind.

This was a quote from Zechariah 4:6. Here it is, in The New Living Translation:

"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin..."

Okay, sure. But what was the meaning of these step stools? I pondered this over the next few days, and finally understood that if you stretch them in a line, you could start at the smallest step, and step gradually higher as you go. You would end up at the top. They weren't step-stools, where you take a single step up and then you were there. No. They were stepping-stools. A process was implied.

One thing leads to another...

You start with the next step, however small. It reminds me of the old saying, "How does one go about eating an elephant?" Answer: One Bite At A Time.

So maybe in your own life, you have an obstacle that seems insurmountable. You can't get there from here. There is a small first step, but it won't solve your problem. But will it lead to the next step? Some people (me) tend to get paralyzed by indecision when there are too many options. It is the same when problems stack up. If we spend too much time stressing over the big-picture problems, no work will get done. So you solve the immediate problem first. Then you deal with the others. With the nesting stools, you would not be able to step onto the tallest stool as your first step. (This is not Cross Fit, people!) But if you step on them in sequence, each step forward moves you higher and higher-- all without straining yourself.

Notice back in the passage in Zachariah, that it says "The LORD rejoices to see the work begin"? So maybe get your cute butt off the couch and take the first step, however insignificant?

Step-by-step, one bite at a time.

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