Take on challenges a little at a time

“But he will do it little by little.”

— Deuteronomy 7:22 (NIRV)

It’s time to turn the page on another new year. A place where the unknown future awaits us. Just the thought of it can be a bit frightening, but it can also be exciting.

A new year can be a time of adventure, opportunity and growth. But, oftentimes, it’s more of the same old stagnating dull routine. Could this be because our expectations are amiss?

In biblical times, God sent 12 spies to go in and check out the good land he had promised to give to them. He asked them to survey the land and report on its agriculture and the fertile land. Instead of reporting on the luscious fruit and beautiful vegetation, they brought back a negative report about the giants standing in their way.

God had already promised this land to them. Their wrong viewpoint caused them to remain stuck where they were for another 40 years.

My friend recently shared she wants to declutter her house, but she’s overwhelmed and doesn’t know where to begin. She sees her clutter as the insurmountable giant.

I mentioned the old adage of eating an elephant one small bite at a time. She laughed because she had never heard that. I told her just start with one small thing.

When the people of Israel were frightened, God instructed them to overcome their enemies little by little. Although I didn’t know it back then, I’ve used that concept for years. When raising our family, we started out with a small starter home. It was quite small, but it was all we could afford, so we made it work.

A few years later, we sold it and had a nice down payment for a bigger home, which met our family’s needs.

When I went to college, I took a couple of classes per semester. This was more cost effective and saved on day care expenses. It took a few years longer, but I easily met my goal.

Whatever we are tackling this year, let’s make sure we stay positive and realistic. Whenever possible, we need to slow down and achieve our giant goals a little at a time. That way we won’t get overwhelmed and remain stuck because we bit off more than we could chew.

• Annettee Budzban is a Christian author of the book “Letters To A Friend,” speaker, life and writing coach and nurse. She can be contacted at annetteebudzban@aol.com.