I know there are people who have actually gone from misery to happiness, but they didn’t do it by walking through three steps; they did it because they had a certain set of parents and heard a certain song and knew somebody who had a certain experience and saw some movie, read some book, had something happen to them like a car wreck or a trip to Seattle. Then they called on God, and a week later read something in a magazine or met a girl in Wichita, and when all this had happened they had an epiphany, and somebody may have helped them fulfill what this epiphany made them feel, and several years later they rationalized this mystic experience with three steps, then they told the three steps to us in a book. I’m not saying they weren’t trying to be helpful; I bring this up only because life is complex, and the idea that you can break it down or fix it in a few steps is rather silly.
The truth is there are a million steps, and we don’t even know what the steps are, and worse, at any given moment we may not be willing or even able to take them; and still worse, they are different for you and me and they are always changing. I have come to believe the sooner we find this truth beautiful, the sooner we will fall in love with the God who keeps shaking things up, keeps changing the path, keeps rocking the boat to test our faith in Him, teaching us to not rely on easy answers, bullet points, magic mantras, or genies in lamps, but rather rely on His guidance, His existence, His mercy, and His love.
Personally, I was miserable before I understood these ideas, but now I am so happy I laugh all the time, even in my sleep.
This passage was excerpted from Searching For God Knows What.
Mmm, I want to offer an intelligent response. I mostly agree. I think also though it takes active participation in the living out God. Then we get happy. That’s my personal experience.
You grabbed me with the title. So true-great post.
This is great. I know that I like to shorten things into nice little neat steps. But that is not life. That is why often when I do put things in steps (like in my blog) I make sure to ask at the end if I have missed something. How does that translate in your life? I want to get people thinking about MORE than just the small portion I have written about. Great point!
Love it and true. It takes a lifetime (a million steps) to be more like Christ. And it’s not until the very end (and beginning) that we fully are.
Don, Thanks for this. Love love love the last paragraph! Touche! You rock. Thanks for your thought provoking, inspiring books. Setting out to live a “better story.” Rather than dreaming about it. So thanks so much for “A million miles…” All the best…
If you are willing to take the million steps, it’s amazing what God allows you to see along the way…His grace!
Great excerpt.
Thank you for this! It resonated with me and confirmed much for me. The more of your excerpts that are posted, the more I want to read the books of yours that I haven’t read yet. I’ll have to get around to doing it sooner now; your work really hits home with me very often. Thanks Don.
I love this post.I remember the first time I read it. I am actually quoting some of your books for final project for my masters work. I might add this! What page is this on in “Searching for God Knows What?”
Thank you for writing this. I’m so tired of Christian magic formulas…pray this prayer ever day for 30 days and it will change your life.
Hey Don,
Once again, I don’t quite understand what you are getting at with this esoteric talk about some subject deliberately obscured… oddly something smells quite “hipster” about this. This may be subjective, but I don’t quite fancy the whole “Salinger” tone to this post. I get it: life is confusing, confounding, painful, but still echoes a strange sense of beauty. You say there are a “million steps”, but they are unsearchable, unknowable, and furthermore God is somewhere “there” along the way… but I disagree, sir. I say there aren’t a million steps. There isn’t a blur of experiences and remedies and paths. That’s not the focus. Jesus said “Deny yourself. Follow Me.” I know you hate equations, and I am not suggesting what I am about to say is such a thing, but rather a truth, that there is no “great expanse” nor “unknowable” but Christ Jesus and Christ alone. Truth is simple, not confounding, but this post seems to blur the line. Really, the first and only step is surrender, not mindless speculation and getting lost in the “bigness” of life. Rather, I think we, as self-professed Christians, should get lost in the bigness of our God! Just bring it back into focus, Don. It just feels as if your posts have been heavy on “life” but lacking in Christ.
I think your wrong no offense but dons not saying that life is big and god isnt you just dont want to agree for some odd reason he is saying that we have a god who rocks our world sometimes and because god made us differently and has plans that are different for all of us what might work for you might not work for me because god has something else planned for me… he is trying to say that God and what he does in our lives cant be put in three steps or a little box or a list of mantras,ideas,rules,or steps to follow a great quote is “is a god really god if he fits inside our heads?” by a band i love and i think don captures this in this writing just like i think you might when you say we got to get caught up in the bigness of god not life if anything you two are trying to say the same thing just a little differently hes looking at how god invests in our lives and affects our lives and your looking at just god but god is a part of our lives daily and i think don would agree with what your saying hes not being a “hipster” or “salinger like” he is just trying to be real and honest with you thats all
sorry for posting again but I would challenge you that life is indeed painful and confusing but when god comes into the equation life is beautiful and life is full of steps that god leads us through and many more than a million if you honestly think the only thing we need to do in life as christians is “deny ourselves and follow jesus” than i mean thats one thing in many i think thats important but we need to look at who jesus was and let god use our talents and abilitys and ideas for his glory (make our steps) and do it in a christ like way
Hey Jacob,
I very much agree with you, but there is still something that seems to be amiss in Don’s blog… certainly there is poetic merit to some of his writing, but you see, those who claim to follow Christ and choose to write about “Christian things” must make Jesus the center, the core, and the “soul” of their writings. You will know those who are truly sincere in their walk with Christ because everything points back to Him! There is a fragrance, if you will, because they are always in His presence, ever-seeking His face.
Great lyric, btw – I love that! Again as aforementioned, I just wanted to point out that Don is not very clear himself and most of the time it is the readers and commenters that “fill in the blanks” either with truth or some radical assumption that derives itself from the vagueness of Don’s posts.
I never implied that denying ourselves is the only thing we need to do. You missed the point! No equations, no formulas, not even the law – just Jesus. Isn’t that beautiful? I always have that feeling that if I were to ask Christ how to be more kind, more gracious, more efficient in ministry, He would smile with mercy full and simply say, “Follow Me.” It’s in inward process – walking in the Spirit as He does His work in us. I want to challenge you instead and ask you this: how?
Looking forward to hearing from you!
I really agree with this. Life has to be about some exploring in order to truly know God on a personal level. I was raised in the Christian home and brought up very well, however I finally realized it was not my own faith and relationship. Part of the way of growing deeper with Christ was through some mistakes and joys, and the mysteries of life that you talk about. I feel like to truly know Christ you have to see what the other side of the story is, because we are humans who often lack faith and belief in something that is not visible. I’m not using that as an excuse for exploring but I can truly support that fact that messing up can lead to a much deeper relationship because of my experience. It help makes everything real in the end. Thanks Don for this great reminder, that it is okay to struggle with Christ much like Jacob did in Genesis 32.
I really agree with this. Life has to be about some exploring in order to truly know God on a personal level. I was raised in the Christian home and brought up very well, however I finally realized it was not my own faith and relationship. Part of the way of growing deeper with Christ was through some mistakes and joys, and the mysteries of life that you talk about. I feel like to truly know Christ you have to see what the other side of the story is, because we are humans who often lack faith in something that is not visible. I’m not using that as an excuse for exploring but I can truly support that fact that messing up can lead to a much deeper relationship because of my experience. It helps make everything real in the end. Thanks Don for this great reminder, that it is okay to struggle with Christ much like Jacob did in Genesis 32.
Yeah there are a million steps. And boy, am I tired.
Love your work Don.
This response is two-fold. First, Jacob, I believe that You and Don are saying the same thing, just looking at it through different perspectives. Don is not saying that we do not go through steps, life is nothing more than steps, rather I think what he is saying that there is no “three steps to happiness,” as many people think there is. God wants a relationship with us, this we should all agree upon. And like all growing relationships, we should be moving forward; growing, changing, and loving more because of the changes.
Don, I love your posts, especially when they are from my favorite work by you. I would love to see some new thoughts you are working on, however. Your writing is God-breathed, and I always look forward to see what insights you have gained through your own relationship with Him. But should you choose to re-write part of the phone book, I would read that as well. Thank you for writing!
CJSm
Great passage! I think this is so true.
It’s difficult to describe how I came back to God. To have it make sense to anyone outside of my life. There weren’t too many concrete events that make tidy little blog posts. As you say, there were a million steps that led me to where I am now, and even now, the steps are changing.
Thank you for the reminder to see this truth as beautiful.
As Jerry Lee said, “There’s a whole lot of shakin’ goin’ on”. This really spoke to Mary M.
This was actually the first book I read of yours and the only one before I met you last weekend at Flood. Love it.
[...] 4. A Million Steps - A great reminder that life is incredibly complex, and sometimes we just need to wonder at it. [...]