“And God said, ‘I will be with you.’” (Exodus 3:12)

A few months ago, the battery in my key fob started dying. In my mind, changing the battery seemed daunting—I needed to find someone that could change it, drive to the location, wait while they switched it out, and then pay an exorbitant amount of money. Apparently, I thought changing the battery in the key fob was similar to any other sort of car issue—inconvenient, time consuming, expensive, and something only a professional could do. So I switched to the other key fob. Then, a few days ago, that battery started to wane as well. Now that I was faced with two dead key fobs, I turned to Google for help.

You probably already know where this is going. The thing I had put off for so long had a very easy fix—purchase the appropriate battery, the number of which Google supplied on demand, pop open the key fob, and change the battery. No special equipment or expertise needed. And voila, both of my key fobs are now working again.

Life is like this sometimes. We put off things that seem hard because starting requires too many steps that we are unsure about. Often, when we get started, we realize that the task wasn’t so daunting after all, and we wonder, Why didn’t I do this before?

It’s also true that, sometimes, the task is just as hard, if not harder, than we had imagined. We have all encountered the five-minute project that turned into a five-hour one. And when faced with a new task, my brain puts up barriers and reminds me about those times.

My problem wasn’t the key fob itself. My problem was the expectations I had around the key fob, none of which came to pass. How often do we do the same thing with something God is asking us to do?

We put it off because the task seems daunting. We expect that it will be hard, so we balk at even getting started. Maybe it’s a hard conversation that we’ve been putting off, a habit we want to break, or a new job opportunity we’re considering.

But when we turn to God, he meets us where we are—in the uncertainty, in the procrastination, in the expectations. Faith doesn’t mean believing the task will be easy. Faith means taking the first step before we know how hard the rest of the steps will be, and then trusting that God will be there to guide us along the way.

Dear Lord, thank you for being there in the easy things, the hard things, the good things, and the bad things. Guide us through each situation, and help us remember you will never leave us to handle these things alone. Amen.