Bite-Sized Pieces
Do you feel inadequate for the venture before you?
You are so not alone.
I recently waited an unusually long time, along with some friends, for a meal. While we do enjoy one another’s company – the wait became rather arduous as the scent of flavourful steak and warmly roasted chicken began to waft around the room, ushered in by the rumbles of impatient stomachs. When our food arrived – there were some in the group who devoured their share before the waiter returned to ask how things tasted. Others tried to keep their bites and gulps slow – or at least to chew off bite-sized bits.
Those who chewed in reasonable rhythms had an all-around superior dining experience.
Similarly, when an intimidating endeavour is piled high before us, most people will either:
Try to chomp through the entire project in a day, lacking the thought, intention, planning and care that is necessary for success
P R O C R A S T I N A T E until it disappears
Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
The Apostle Paul felt weak and inadequate, but he had learned to depend on the power of God to take his next step. He said, “For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 10). He pointed to the example of Christ for His strength, saying, “[Jesus] is a mighty power among you. Although He died on the cross in weakness, he now lives by the mighty power of God. We, too, are weak, but we live in him and have God’s power…” (2 Corinthians 13:4).
One way to walk in God’s power when you feel overwhelmed by tasks, expectations, requirements or projects – is to simply, take the next step.
Are you being prompted to start something you have been avoiding?
Break it down into bite-sized bits
Create a pathway with defined markers for milestone success points
Show someone your plan who will keep you on track
Get started on that first point!
Don’t feel like you need to inhale or devour the entire exploit in a day. And don’t let being overwhelmed keep you down in the pit of procrastination. Have the faith to take that first step, even if you cannot see the staircase…let God’s power be your peace as you chew on one bite-sized piece at a time.
