Shift Happens: The Power of Tiny Changes

Denise Acosta

Denise Acosta is the owner of Misfit of Creation and serves faithfully at her church in areas like jail ministry, global missions, and the storytelling team, to name a few. She loves purposefully creating spiritual content—devotionals, Bible studies, and other tools for intentional growth—in an effort to help facilitate the transformational relationship we can have with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. A former cupcake baker, now passionate home cook and expert cheesecake consumer, she very much enjoys life as a dog mom to a 93lb Lieutenant Dan.

Comfort is the enemy of progress! Progress is not linear! We need to be intentional! Those are probably the most used phrases anyone has heard me say in the last several years. And yes, they each have their own soapbox that gets brushed off and preached on regularly.

The thing is everyone has opinions about how we should be moving through life. Stick with what you know. Get your head out of the clouds. Doing the uncomfortable is, well... uncomfortable. We look at our dreams as just that - dreams. Something unattainable. Even when we try, we often see one mistake as failure instead of a step closer to success. Inaction often feels easier because it’s less risky. So, we get stuck just hoping things will change instead of taking intentional steps. None of these things get us to where our heart longs to be, though. It definitely doesn’t get us closer to where God wants us to be especially when He knows full well just how capable we are of it.

The enemy is an expert at feeding us lies. He’s been doing this since the day we were born. Whispering in our ear how incapable we are. Convincing us that it’s too hard, it won’t work, and that no one will care anyway. Sometimes he’ll whisper it to us directly, and sometimes, it comes from a loved one and that tends to sting a bit more. We wonder why we should even start. Change is hard and it doesn’t happen overnight. We look at the finish line, and we’re either incredibly motivated, or if you’re anything like me, you feel incredibly overwhelmed. How will I ever get to something like that? Well, first, we have to get unstuck mentally.

You’ve heard the expression, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!” queue the middle-aged man laugh here Ok, let’s turn the volume down a bit on him. There’s a lot of truth behind that saying, though. What it means is that even the most daunting task can be tackled by taking small, manageable steps at a time; essentially breaking down a large problem into smaller, more achievable pieces.

Remember Nehemiah rebuilding the wall back in the Old Testament? If you don’t know the story, Nehemiah was just minding his business as the king’s cupbearer when he got some bad news—Jerusalem’s walls were in ruins, and the people were vulnerable. This hit him hard. Instead of panicking, he did what any wise person should do first - he prayed. Then, with a deep breath, he approached the king and asked for permission (and supplies) to go fix the problem. Surprisingly, the king said yes!

Rebuilding a wall around the city was no small feat. This wasn’t a 'let me build a quick playground and call it a day' kind of situation. This was a serious task, and on top of it, he was facing some serious opposition for it. Spoiler alert: he makes a plan, implements it, and in just 52 days, the wall was up, the enemies were speechless, and Jerusalem had its confidence back. Yay! Another victory for God!

Ok, well that’s great for Nehemiah and Jerusalem, but that’s not my story. But are you sure? Because I think Nehemiah’s story has something for all of us. I come from a baking cupcakes food industry background. I learned a lot of things growing that business, but not as much as when I learned to invite God into every step of the process. I made a lot of strides and learned some very practical tools to take one small step at a time, but that lasting impact came only when taking a page out of Nehemiah’s story.

Nehemiah prayed first

Before anything. He prayed.

Prayer has been one of the most misunderstood things of our time, in my most honest personal opinion. God isn’t an ATM or a genie that we send our wishes to and out pops the desired outcome. We don’t want to be relentlessly pleading for something and never leaving time to listen to what He has to say about it. Prayer is how we communicate with God. It’s how I spend time with God communicating my thoughts, feelings, concerns, praises… anything really! He’s my bestie - seriously! I pray when I’m making important decisions about life’s next steps. I leave some quiet time for God to share His thoughts on it, what He feels my next steps should be. Is it something He even wants for me? Praying is my debrief with God about life in that moment.

Okay, back to Nehemiah. He consulted God before any and every decision making. Oftentimes, we get stuck thinking we have to do it all ourselves which leaves us feeling overwhelmed, but no. God wants us to do it with Him. He is the one guiding us and strengthening us each step of the way. Besides, He already knows the best way to do things! Also, every time I’ve tried to do it on my own without Him, it never worked out. Take my advice, go to the Big Man!

Let’s look at Nehemiah’s small steps. Nehemiah consulted God and devised a plan. He took on the project one task at a time keeping his eyes on the one true King. He did that faithfully through prayer. He asked God then did the next step. Then he asked God for the next step and then moved accordingly. Nehemiah took one small step after another.

He prayed every step of the way and still faced challenging opposition. Adversity or challenges are not an indication that we need to give up or that what we’re doing is wrong, though it may be tempting or feel that way. I’ve found it’s best to look at challenges as opportunities. What is God trying to show me or strengthen in me through this? Challenges make us stronger and far more capable of doing what the final project needs from us. Nehemiah was called to rebuild this wall, and only because he kept his focus on God did he eventually complete this task successfully.

I used to compare my first attempts to experts and get discouraged, but I learned that every mistake got me closer to getting it right. You can’t improve something that doesn’t exist, so just start. Small steps, repeated consistently, lead to big results. I know this to be true because that’s what I told myself the one time I ran a full marathon and finished.

So, what’s your next step? Ask God and then take it one small shift at a time. Then ask Him again and take it one small shift at a time. And then ask God…you see where I’m going!

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If you’d like to talk about the power of tiny changes in your life, send me an email or schedule one-on-one time with me. And consider subscribing to my blog where I post lots of helpful suggestions on how you can begin (and continue) this journey of recovering your blueprint!