Unshackled Echo ~ June 28, 20199 ~ One More Load

There is no one giant step that does it. It’s a lot of little steps.

– Peter A. Cohen

This is one of those great quotes that is easy to find throughout the internet. I do not know the original purpose or context of the quote, so I can not say if Mr. Cohen was right or wrong about what he was referring to, but as this one statement stands alone there is a lot of truth here. Of course there are exceptions and the metaphor doesn't always ring true, e.g. if I'm trying to cross a ditch full of water and keep my feet dry, a giant step across works a lot better than any number of little steps. But that is the kind of thing someone wanting to avoid the truth of what the statement is trying to convey would bring up to distract themselves. I know, because I just did it.

The thing is that all too often in life we want to take that giant step when it's not appropriate. I wanted the stability and the comfort and freedom of six years experience of sobriety at about 6 months clean, probably less. I want the steady assurance, peaceful harbor quality of faith my father has after four decades plus of walking with God and living in ministry and service now. I want the spiritual aroma of the person who spent a life time in fervent faithful prayer to be mine after five minutes in my prayer closet. I want the freedom from bad habits that I spent a lifetime to cultivate to be gone with one decision to mentally pull the weed from the garden of my heart.

It's not a bad thing to want those kind of things, to have goals and to desire to live better today than we did yesterday, and better tomorrow than we do today. But when we get so caught up in the finish line that we can't run the race, we have created a problem for ourselves. A marathon of 26 miles can not be run in a single step. It's just not possible.  It doesn't matter if you're as slow a turtle or as fast as Quicksilver or Flash, the slow and the speedster still take step after step to cover the distance. But we all too often want what we want and want it now to the extent that if we can't do it immediately we won't bother to try at all. If I can't do it right, why do it? But sometimes being able to do it right or near perfect only comes after years of practice and many times of doing it not so right.

Sometimes if we keep our eye on the finish line it can inspire us and remind us of why we are running. But  other times, the great distance between where we are and where we want to be can overwhelm and discourage. The mountain is too high, the job is too big. At those times, it is best to remember that it is the little things, the repeated continuous progress that completes the journey and not the instant fix. When I turn on the water full blast, the container is filled quickly, but unless I reduce the flow at some point it will never be full. The water pressure begins to push water back out faster than can be contained. When the flow is shut off, there is space left. But if the water is run slowly, I can fill the container to the rim.

I remember as a child helping my father haul hay. When it began to grow late and we, especially I, became weary and wanted to quit, Dad would never point out the hundreds of bales of hay remaining that had to be moved. He would tell me, one more load. We can do one more load. We would do the next load and only that load and then reevaluate. Then we could see that we had enough in us to do one more load, one more time. Repeated one load at a time, the point would come when one more load became the last load. Then exhausted but satisfied with a job well done, we'd head home to rest. We did it, not by trying to carry all of the hay at once, something we couldn't possibly do, but by loading one bale at a time and hauling one load after another.

Today when we become overwhelmed by the distance and what needs to be done, let us not look at our inability to take the giant step, but rather let us focus on the small step, the little piece we can do, the small progress that is the next step in a race well run and a job well done.

Today's Unshackled Echo was previously published on

June 25, 2016.

This site is free. If this blessed, helped and or informed you, the best thing you can do is pass it on via the social buttons below. And please subscribe or follow Unshackled Life Ministries on Facebook.

Unshackled Life Ministries is grateful for every person that reads the daily Unshackled Moments, the weekly Unshackled Echo and or listens to the Audio Messages. I want to thank those who have clicked "like" on something that blessed or ministered to them on social media, commented on the blog or replied to an email subscription. It is encouraging to know that God is using this ministry to help and bless others. Please remember that if God used something from this ministry to help, encourage or bless you, it could also bless someone else. Would you help get the devotions and sermons to more people by sharing this? Hitting the share button or forwarding this to a friend will help us reach more people with the good news of freedom and the encouragement to live an Unshackled Life. Thank you and God bless.