There was a time last year when I went through a rough patch and I was at a crossroad. Unlike real roads, my roads didn’t have signs. There wasn’t a sign pointing to SUCCESS or JOY—5 miles ahead. I had a difficult decision to make, and I was trying to weigh all my options. The analytical side of me was in control and determined to figure out the result of each different path. The problem was that I was guessing at what the results would be. It was like looking down a road and seeing something moving in the darkness—maybe it’s a sweet cuddly puppy or maybe it’s a skunk. Was I willing to take that chance? Nope!

I was struggling. I couldn’t plan the future because I didn’t know my next step. Days turned into weeks. Gathered with friends, we each started sharing things going on in our lives. Praises, problems, thoughts...we were covering everything. I quickly shared that I was stuck. I didn’t want to elaborate. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I could even say the words out loud. Roy responded with “There are two steps you must take each day. One is faith and the other is obedience.” For those of you who know Roy, you have probably heard him speak truth in ways that make it simple to understand. He’s gifted like that.

I realized that I wasn’t in a place of faith or obedience. I was in a place of pain and had been hanging out there for a while. So what did my step in faith look like? Well, it was faith that forgiving someone who had hurt me would bring freedom and peace. And obedience? I’m not good at obedience, never have been. This step was a hard one for me. The obedience was letting go of the hurt.

This experience taught me that I am stuck only if I choose to be. Each day I have a choice to step out in faith and be obedient, and taking those steps will keep me moving in the right direction.