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Don't Burn the Candle: Take One Step of Faith · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

• 0:05
  Welcome to Have Faith, Let It Begin. This is Ariel Santana.
• 0:10
  Can you believe I'm seven years old already? I'm old enough now to introduce.
• 0:55
  Good morning, everyone. Sorry about the abrupt beginning there.
• 0:58
  I just got excited. I want to just jump on and say, what's going on,
• 1:01
  everybody? And welcome to Have Faith, Let It Begin.
• 1:04
  What a crazy weekend it has been.
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  And let me just ask you a quick question. Are you tired?
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  And I don't necessarily mean, did you get enough sleep last night?
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  I'm talking about the other kind of tired, the kind where your body may be sitting
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  still, but your mind is already thinking about 12 different things. Yep.
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  What? Oh, that's crazy, right? When you think it that way, what you have to
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  do today, what do you have to do tomorrow?
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  Oh, yeah. What didn't you do and finish yesterday?
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  Yep. What needs to happen tomorrow? All these things just keep racing back and forth.
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  The bills, the family, the work, the school, appointments, responsibilities,
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  and everybody who needs something from you.
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  And somewhere in the middle of all of this, you forgot about you.
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  There's an old expression.
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  Don't burn the candle at both ends because eventually there's no candle left.
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  And sometimes I think that's exactly what we do to ourselves.
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  We wake up already running. We rush through the day. We worry about tomorrow
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  before we even finish today. And then we wonder why.
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  We wonder why we are exhausted. And my friends, boy, You were never meant to do everything at once.
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  I'm learning that. Sometimes you have to slow down.
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  Sometimes you have to be patient. And sometimes you have to trust that God is
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  working on the things you cannot see yet.
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  Because here's something I'm learning in my own life. Not everything has to happen on my timetable.
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  And oh boy, that's a hard one. Because I want answers. I want to know what's happening.
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  I want to know how it's going to work out.
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  And preferably, I'd like God to
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  send me the entire plan by email before breakfast. Wouldn't that be nice?
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  Here's exactly what I'm thinking. What if I talk to myself this morning and
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  say, dear angel, here's exactly what's going to happen for the next six months.
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  Don't worry about anything.
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  Oh, wouldn't that be nice to say that to yourself?
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  I print that out, laminated, probably hang it on my fridge.
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  But faith doesn't work that way. Sometimes God doesn't show you the whole staircase.
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  Sometimes he just gives you enough light for the next step.
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  And maybe that's all you need today.
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  Not 10 steps, not 10, not, no, not, not 10 steps, not 20 steps,
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  not next month, not next year.
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  One step. Yeah. One step.
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  See, Jesus tells us in Matthew six, not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow
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  will worry about itself.
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  And I think, and I think some of us need that to understand where we're at today
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  because we're carrying today's responsibilities and tomorrow's worries, no wonder we're tired.
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  Maybe today you need to give yourself permission to say, I don't have to figure everything out today.
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  I don't have to fix everything today. I don't have to have every answer today.
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  See, today I'm simply going to take the next step.
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  And when you take the next step, take another. And you know what? Take another.
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  And before you know it, you'll look behind you and realize just how far God
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  has brought you. But once you do that.
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  You have to be patient when you do it. Patient with God's timing.
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  Because patience with the process, and sometimes patience with yourself.
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  You're going to have days when you don't accomplish everything on your list. And that is okay.
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  You're going to have days when you're tired. And that's okay too.
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  Rest doesn't mean you're giving up. Rest means you're getting ready to continue.
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  Even Jesus stepped away. He prayed. He rested. And he found quiet.
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  So why? do we sometimes convince ourselves that slowing down means we're failing, I should say?
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  Maybe slowing down is exactly what God is asking us to do. Maybe he's asking you to do that today.
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  Don't burn the candle at both ends. Trying to prove that.
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  You can handle everything. That doesn't do anything. You don't have to. Just trust God.
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  Take care of what has placed in front of you today and let tomorrow wait until tomorrow.
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  Because sometimes faith isn't making a giant leap.
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  Sometimes faith is simply saying, God, I don't know what's coming up next,
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  but I trust you enough to take one more step.
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  And speaking of taking a moment, let's take a moment right now because we're going to pray.
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  Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us another day. For the person listening
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  right now who feels overwhelmed, exhausted, or pulled in a hundred different
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  directions, give them peace.
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  Remind us that we don't have to solve tomorrow today and teach us to trust your timing.
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  Give us patience when things aren't moving as quickly as we hoped.
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  Give us wisdom to know when to keep going.
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  And when it's time to rest, help us stop caring things that haven't even happened yet.
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  Guide our steps, renew our strength, and when we cannot see the entire road
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  ahead, give us enough faith to take the next step with you.
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  Because today, we place our worries, our schedules, our responsibilities,
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  and our tomorrow into your hands.
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  We pray this into your name, Jesus' name, amen. Friends, don't burn the candle at both ends.
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  Don't, you don't have to finish everything today. You don't have to understand
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  everything you do today. And certainly, don't have to worry about tomorrow.
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  Today, trust God, be patient, take care of yourself, and take life one step at a time.
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  That's Have Faith, Let It Begin. Because we're real people, real stories, and real faith.
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  So remember, a little faith can change your entire day.
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  And never forget to have faith and let it begin.
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  Thank you for listening to Have Faith, Let It Begin. We'll be back tomorrow.