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Do the Next Thing

As I wrapped up Easter promos for a couple of churches last week, this part of an old Saxon poem came to mind - the one Elisabeth Elliot made famous:

"Do the next thing."

She didn't mean being busy for the sake of busy. She meant faithfulness. Trust Christ and do the good work in front of you. Active faith, not passive waiting. Just like Psalm 37 teaches.

Scripture reminds us: "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

Elisabeth Elliot learned those words from an old Saxon poem found scratched on a wall. Do the next thing. Not the grand thing. Not the perfect thing. Just the next one. She lived that out in some of the hardest circumstances a person can face and came out the other side not bitter but faithful.

Because faithfulness isn't a feeling. It's a decision you make before the feeling ever shows up. Nobody feels faithful every day. That's actually the whole point. If it only happened when you felt like it, it wouldn't be faithfulness. It would just be enthusiasm.

The next thing doesn't ask how you feel. It just asks if you'll show up.

"Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galatians 6:9

That's not just a theological idea. For me it showed up last week in the most ordinary way.

I do creative and marketing work for churches and ministries. Some of it paid, a lot of it over the years volunteered, all of it meaningful. First time working with a church that had an actual budget -  community event, helicopter, the whole thing. Honestly? Lots of fun. Really, a lot of fun. But the best part was listening to the pastor, catching his vision, and learning how he got there.

So as I wrapped up, I asked: should I start on Mother's Day? The answer: Oh yeah.

For churches, Mother's Day attendance runs neck and neck with Christmas and Easter. Because even if you've walked away from church, even if religion isn't your thing, you still love your mom enough to sit beside her on a Sunday morning. That's all she wants. Her whole family, in one row, next to her. The one who holds everyone together. The one whose absence would mean the gatherings might stop. That's mom. That's love. And that's the next thing - showing up for the people worth showing up for.

Easter isn't even here yet and I'm already deep into Mother's Day. But that's just life, isn't it? The next holiday. The next birthday. The next project. The next season. Before the current one is even over, we're already leaning into what's coming.

The poem says it better than I ever could:

"Moment by moment, let down from Heaven, time, opportunity, and guidance are given. Fear not tomorrows, child of the King. Trust them with Jesus, do the next thing. Do it immediately, do it with prayer, do it reliantly, casting all care. Stayed on Omnipotence, safe 'neath His wing, leave all results, do the next thing."

That's it. That's the whole thing. Not a grand strategy. Not a perfect plan. Just faithfulness, moment by moment, one next thing at a time.

"Trust in the Lord and do good." Psalm 37:3

Love, 

Andrea Anderegg

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