Appreciate Small Steps: Recognising God’s Progress in the Process

Sometimes God is moving in our lives, but the progress feels too small compared with the future He has promised. In this message, we explore why comparison, impatience, speed, and the pressure to prove ourselves can make us overlook meaningful Spirit-led progress. Drawing from Exodus 13, Psalm 73, 2 Corinthians 10, and John 5, this episode encourages us to value God’s process and remain grateful for every step He is leading us to take.

Transcript

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The reason we struggle to feel God is not because nothing is changing. It is because the changes we are seeing look too small compared with the beautiful future that God has shown us. The spirit ledger may be small in appearance and yet enormous in consequence. If God inspired the shift, its size does not determine its significance. Good morning and welcome to this expression of igniting your day. I have noticed, friends, that the grand nature of God's promises to us can sometimes make us evaluate our progress by comparing where we are now with the beautiful place God has promised to take us. God may have shown you something beautiful. The promise may be large, the picture may be compelling, and because the picture before you is so great, you can begin to judge everything happening today by whether it resembles that final picture. Whenever we do this, we can easily overlook the significance of the little progress we are already making. We begin to interpret progress through large changes, visible events, and speed. Because the image God has placed before us is so large, we unconsciously think that before we can say Lord thank you, something equally large must happen. But many times, God's interpretation of progress is not found only in dramatic changes. It is found in our obedient participation in His process. That is important. Many times, what God calls progress is your willingness to participate faithfully in the process He has prepared for you. This means that if we are going to remain grateful as we ought to be, we must learn to value the little things God is doing and the small adjustments he's asking us to make. It could be a small word he impressed upon your heart. It could be a tiny change he encouraged you to make in your daily routine. It could be a simple conversation he prompted you to begin. It could be a small adjustment in an area of your life. If we are truly going to live gratefully before God, we must learn to value the little things we know he has asked us to do. The small changes and subtle shifts that we can recognize as being inspired by him. Why? Because small steps do not always mean small impact. The fact that a shift, modification, or change looks small does not mean it has a small impact. We often underestimate the effect of little things because the image we are looking towards is so much larger. But a spirit-led move, a spirit-led initiative, a spirit-led-led adjustment, or even a spirit-led conversation, however small it appears, can carry the weight of a much greater future. I want to encourage you today. Perhaps you have been asking God for something significant, but what you are seeing right now looks like only a few drops. Still thank God. I have observed that God often leads us from the familiar towards the unfamiliar gradually. Because of this, some of the changes taking place in your life may still look more like where you are coming from than where you are going. Still thank God. You may see shifts that resemble your present circumstances far more than the future God has shown you. Still thank God. They might appear insignificant, but they may carry much greater consequences than you presently understand. The fact that it is a small step in your eyes does not mean its impact is small. Perhaps you have even withheld gratitude from God because certain changes around you have looked insignificant. I want to encourage you, go before the Lord, go before the Lord with gratitude this morning. Yes, go before the Lord with gratitude this morning. Why do we struggle to appreciate small progress? There are several reasons why we often fail to appreciate these small processes and small movements. The first one is what we have already discussed. We compare today with the grand picture of the promise. We evaluate the changes happening now against the large picture God has shown us concerning the future. Because the promise is large, today can look insignificant. Because the promise and the process do not always look alike. The beginning of a journey does not have to resemble its destination in order to be meaningful. You must learn to recognize what God is doing now without constantly disqualifying it because it does not look like the finished picture. Number two, we compare our journey with other people's journey. Yes, we compare our journey with other people's journeys. Another reason we fail to appreciate small steps and small changes is comparison. We begin evaluating where we are by looking at where other people appear to be. God designed a journey for you, and that journey is producing some of the experiences you are having right now. The fact that somebody else is experiencing something different does not mean that God has abandoned your journey. This reminds me of John the Baptist and Jesus. When Jesus came to John to be baptized, John initially resisted, but Jesus told him that it needed to happen in order to fulfill righteousness. The lesson that stands out to me is that John understood this assignment. He did not need to add another person's assignments to his own in order for his life to matter. In the same way, you do not need another person's journey in order to validate yours. Stop comparing your experiences with the experiences of people who may not even be walking in the same path God has designed for you. When so-called small things happen in your life, appreciate God for them. Do not become trapped in unhealthy comparison. Learn to say, Lord, I thank you for what you have done for me. I am grateful for what is happening in my life. It may not look very big, but I am grateful. God knows how to give good gifts. Therefore, learn contentment, learn gratitude, learn to recognize what God has placed in your hands without despising it because somebody else appears to have something different. Number three, we mistake speed for progress. When something is not happening quickly, it does not feel like progress to us. But scripture shows us that God values process. There are times when your participation in a process that God has ordained is itself what God considers progress. Let's look at Exodus chapter 13, verse 17 to 18. And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, Lest paradventure the people repent when they see war and they return to Egypt. But God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. Friends, there was a narrow road, there was a shorter route. God knew it existed, yet he deliberately did not lead Israel through it. Why? Because God knew something about the people that they did not know about themselves. He knew what they were ready for. He knew what they were not ready for. He knew the future better than they did. And God knows your future as well better than you do. God understands the process that can make you into the person you need to become better than you do. For every promise he has shown you, he knows the best process that can lead you into it. He may have shown you a picture of a beautiful future, but he also knows the route that will prepare you to live in that future. So please appreciate process, value process. Do not assume that because something is taking longer, nothing is happening. Do not assume that because the road feels repetitive, you are not progressing. Do not assume that because the process is uncomfortable, God has forgotten the promise. Process can feel boring. Process can be different from what you desire. Process can even be draining. But your participation in a God-ordained process may be exactly what God presently calls progress. Sometimes we interpret progress as arrival. God may be interpreting progress as your continued willingness to work with him. Psalm 73 verse 23 gives us a beautiful picture. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holded me by my right hand. There is a powerful picture in that scripture. I am continually with you. You hold me by my right hand. Whatever you may feel about what is happening around you, there is a place where your confidence can rest. You are still with God, and God is still holding you. That means you do not have to run ahead of him, you do not have to become frustrated with the pace of his process and manufacture your own outcome. You do not have to live afraid that he will leave you behind. That holding is what enables you to participate faithfully in the process. Many people dislike the process so much that they try to run ahead of God. But the prayer of our hearts should be: Lord, keep me continually with you. Hold me by my hand. Do not allow me to run ahead of you, and do not allow me to abandon the process you have ordained for me. There is progress in remaining with God. There is progress in being held by God. There is progress in continuing. There is progress in participating. Number four, the pressure to prove that the promise is working. There is another reason we struggle to appreciate small changes. It is the pressure of self-validation. Let's look at John chapter 5, verse 31 to 32. Jesus speaking, If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. There is another that beareth witness of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true. Friends, there are situations where we have made bold declarations concerning things we believe God has spoken to us. We have spoken confidently about where God is taking us. We have talked about the future. And then we become aware that people are watching. People are paying attention to our lives. Now, the little changes happening around us do not appear to resemble the bold declarations we previously made. Suddenly, pressure begins to build. We feel as though we need to prove something. We may begin to withdraw. We may become embarrassed about the smallness of the present stage. Let me say that again. We may become embarrassed about the smallness of the present stage. We may hesitate to obey simple instructions because those instructions do not appear impressive enough. But hear this clearly: you do not have a point to prove to anybody. If there is something God is asking you to do, do it. You do not need to make your process look impressive. You do not need to force your present circumstance to resemble your future promise so that somebody else will believe you. Do not live under the pressure of self-validation. Let the God who initiated the process validate what he started. Let the God who called you be the one who establishes what he has spoken concerning you. The burden of proving something to people may actually be one of the reasons you are finding it difficult to thank God for the little things happening in your life. You are looking at the small instruction and thinking, How does this prove what I said? You are looking at the small change and thinking, how does this resemble the promise? You are looking at the present stage and wondering how others will interpret it. Release yourself from that burden, friends. You have nothing to prove. If God gives you a small instruction, obey it. If God initiates a small shift, honor it. If God begins with something simple, appreciate it. Let him determine what that obedience will eventually become. This message touches me personally, and my response is simple. I am grateful for the large things, but I am also grateful for the little things. I am grateful for the movement that other people can see, and I am grateful for the shifts that only you and I understand. I am grateful for the process I enjoy. I am also grateful for the process that stretched me. I am grateful for the road that is fast. I am also grateful when it you when you choose the longer route because you know what I need. I am grateful that I do not have to compare my journey with another person's journey. I am grateful that I do not have to prove your promise to anybody. I am grateful that you hold me by my hand and keep me with you through the process. Father, teach me to recognize your hand in the small things. Teach me not to despise little adjustments simply because they do not yet resemble the future you have shown me. Deliver me from unhealthy comparison. Deliver me from the pressure to validate myself before people. Help me to appreciate your process and to remain continually with you. Keep me from running ahead of you. Help me not to abandon the journey because it seems slow. Give me the grace to participate faithfully in every process you have ordained for me and teach my heart to remain grateful in Jesus' name. Amen. My dear friends, that will be all for now, and I am wishing you an amazing, amazing day ahead. God bless you.