Do the Next Right Thing You Know To Do

Photo by Philipp Reiner, Creative Commons.One of the most powerful growth principles I’ve ever heard is: “Do the next right thing you know to do.”

This applies to moving forward for almost everyone in almost any situation, and answers the question: "What should I do now?"

Some days we are spiritually strong and built up and encouraged in the Lord, and His direction for our lives. 

But often, we walk through unclear, unforeseen circumstances, and we do not know exactly the way we should go.

What do we do then?

Do the next right thing we know to do.

A scientific law that I’ve always remembered is inertia: the tendency of an object to stay in motion when it’s already moving, or to stay stopped when it is already stopped.

Every physical force in the universe adheres to this law of nature. 

I know inertia very personally ... especially when it comes to mowing my lawn…

For years, I never enjoyed mowing my lawn. I live in Minnesota, where it seems we have 9 months of cold and winter each year, and lakes and cabins the other three. Since we are a land of 10,000 lakes, we are often fishing through ice.

I have a few short months of mowing the lawn during our short summer season (which I should be grateful for it only being this long). However, possibly because I have a push mower and a decent size yard, I never look forward to mowing.

My lawn takes about an hour to mow, and I typically finish sweaty from the workout, dusty from the churning grass and dirt, and smelly from all of it.

Literally, just about every single time I finish mowing, doing what I did not even want to do at first, I have a insatiable desire to go for a few mile run!

Michelle always asks me why I would ever want to run after spending an hour breathing the kicked up dust and mower fumes. 

I'm still not sure, except for inertia.

Moving makes me want to keep on moving. If I just get started, I’ll get into a rhythm, and won’t want to stop, and that will be good for everybody (my lawn will get mowed, my wife will be happy, and my health will improve from all the activity).

The Christian life is no different. There is a spiritual law of inertia.

Often, the only thing we have to do is get started:

Want to become a person of prayer? Start with a half hour praying to good worship music.

Want to grow in your knowledge of God’s Word? Open up the Good Book, and start with a chapter.

Want to reach your community for Christ? Pray that God would open the door to share the gospel with one person this week, and be on the lookout for an opportunity to share.

Want to write a book about God’s grace in your life? Start by writing a chapter.

Want to get involved in your local church? Start by volunteering one time for a program that is close to your heart.

The list could go on and on. Especially now that I’ve gotten started with a list.

Once you get started, and taste the goodness of God, you will have an increasing desire to be a part of his grand story on the earth today.

So what do you need to do now? Do the next right thing you know to do.