Today’s tip is something that has helps me when I begin to get overwhelmed by everything that has to be done. “Do the next thing.”

“Do the next thing.” from an old Saxon poem made popular by Elisabeth Elliot, missionary wife to Jim Elliot who was killed in an Auca attack in 1956. She returned as a missionary to the very tribe that killed her husband. She knew hardship. She knew challenges. She knew being overwhelmed.

As Elisabeth told her daughter (who later quoted it back to her), “Do the next thing. Don’t sit down and think of all the things you have to do. That will kill
you. It’s overwhelming. It’s daunting if you think of all the things that are involved in a task.Just pick up the next thing.” Elisabeth refers us to Isaiah 50:7: “⁷ For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.”

Sometimes, our weakness or circumstances can make things seem quite overwhelming. Do the next thing. Don’t look at everything, just do the next thing. Sometimes, it is a small thing. Sometimes, it is a nap. Sometimes, it is a meal. Sometimes, it is to do your PT/OT or exercise or cleaning or… fill in the blank.

Do the next thing.