Episode 8 - When the Step Feels Small (But It Still Matters)
- Glory & Grit
- Apr 12
- 8 min read
Show Notes:
There are seasons where you keep showing up…but nothing seems to be changing.
If you’ve ever wondered,“What’s the point of doing this one more time?”this episode is for you.
Summary
In this episode of Glory & Grit, Stephanie talks about the quiet, often overlooked kind of faith—choosing to take one more step when you’re tired, discouraged, or not seeing results.
Through a personal story and honest reflection, this episode explores what it looks like to keep showing up in seasons where nothing feels like it’s moving—and how God is still working, even in the silence.
Key Topics
Why “nothing changing” can be one of the hardest seasons
A real-life story of surrender and unexpected peace
What “one more time” obedience actually looks like
Encouragement for when you feel tired of trying.
Takeaways
Sometimes growth is happening… even when nothing seems to be changing.
Obedience often looks like doing the same small thing—one more time.
Peace comes when we release control, not when everything is fixed.
Feeling tired doesn’t mean you’re failing—it means you’ve been showing up.
You don’t need strength for the whole journey, just the next step.
Transcript:
Stephanie:
"Mic thumper. The peace didn't come when the situation changed. It came when I surrendered it to him. Hi, friend. Welcome back to Gloria and Grid, where faith meets real life. Right at the top of things, I just want to say one thing first. I'm really glad you're here. If you're new to the podcast, welcome or Akwaaba. The first three episodes are where we talk about the heart behind Gloria and Grit. So you might enjoy starting there. I'm your host, Stephanie.
There are seasons where doing the right thing doesn't feel hard because it's big. It feels hard because you've been doing it over and over and nothing is changing. You've prayed. Nothing changed. You showed up. Nothing changed. You tried again. Nothing changed. And then you start to wonder, well, what's the point of doing this one more time?
Today I want to talk about something simple, but really hard. What it looks like to take that one more step when you're just tired of taking steps. Sometimes it's not that we don't have enough faith. We're just tired of doing something that doesn't seem to be doing anything. We're tired of trying over and over. We're tired of praying the same thing day after day. And then we're tired of no movement, nothing happening. And that's the moment where some people stop.
And I've had seasons like that. There have been seasons in my life where I wanted and I waited for years for something that I deeply wanted and nothing changed. There was a season in my life where I was doing the right things, but everything around me was getting harder. And this was a season where I'd had this job that it just was not turning out to be what I wanted anymore. And it wasn't so much because of the work, it was because we had new ownership.
And the new ownership brought in a new type of management team. And it was really difficult to be there a lot of the times. They were trying to mold me into something that they wanted, the management team person. She wanted me to be more like her, the type of person that she was. And truth be told, I was not a fan of the type of person that she was. I was not a fan of her personality. I could see people react to it.
And they were pressuring me to become someone that I wasn't. And don't get me wrong, growing pains are good. We need growing pains because that helps us to learn new trades and skills, and it also helps us to grow in our skill set. So learning pains are good. It's the whole change me into something else that was not good because the person that they were trying to change me into, I felt was in conflict with being the person I wanted to be, which was a disciple of Christ. Was I perfect? No. But I was trying to be and to follow Christ. And I didn't think that those two people could live in the same body. It felt like one was going to overtake the other.
This went on day after day, week after week, month after month and I was becoming more stressed. My stress level was off the roof. I was frustrated because I was praying about this for something to change and nothing was changing. Nothing was happening. Nothing was getting better. And that made me more frustrated, which caused me more stress. And like I said, I just didn't want to be, I wanted the opportunity, even though I didn't like the position, I was willing to step into it and to learn and to grow. And I eventually did like some parts of it. I just didn't like that part of it, right?
I knew that this couldn't keep going like this. I couldn't keep going like that. So. Finally, I prayed something different. I said... Heavenly Father, something has to change. Either they need to go or I need to go. And I'm putting it completely in your hands as to which of us has to go. I'm washing my hands of the whole situation.
Even after I prayed that, nothing changed. Nothing changed right away. Maybe just slightly, just a little of the pressure was released, you know, like 10 % maybe, but it was still there. Everything was still getting more frustrated. More complicated and stressful. But I kept showing up. I kept showing up. And then... Something changed in me. I felt at peace because I had finally let go of trying to control the situation. Let go and let God. My thumper, I stopped trying to control the outcome. And that's when I finally felt peace.
So I had put in for a vacation months before that. Now mind you, out of the years, eightish years I had been there, I had never taken a vacation because I was a single parent with no money to go anywhere and no family to go visit. So. What I would do with my vacation time as it accumulated is I would donate it to people who were out sick and who had used up all their time or they had a sick family and they needed to be off some more. So I would just donate my time out like that. So I had never taken a vacation outside of maternity leave once. And... I had already put in for this vacation. It had already been approved months before we dealt with this new company and new management team. But when the time came for me to take that vacation, they told me that they did not think it would be in the best interest for me to go right now.
Well, I went because this was not just a vacation. This was a trip where I was responsible to my church. I was responsible to the organization that I was assisting and I was responsible for the group of girls that were going to be there at the trip. So this was not like a fun vacation that I could just reschedule. This was people were relying on me and I'd given my word and I'd gotten permission to give that word. And I was not going to back away from that because it was important to them, it was important to me, and it was in line with my values to follow through with what I had said I would do and because I know they needed my assistance and they prepared for it.
Now, while I was gone, I got a pink slip. They let me go.
And I never felt more peace in my entire life. Mic thumper. The peace didn't come when the situation changed. It came when I surrendered it to him. Now, was it easy? No. Did I have it all figured out? No. All I know was I'd put it in his hands to either go this way or that way, and I was going to handle it however it came. So I didn't need to have it all figured out. I just needed to let him handle it. And because I did, I could be at peace with that.
Did I have financial struggles after that? Uh-huh. Yes, but still I was at peace with what had happened. It was the best I had felt in months since that situation had begun. I cared more about being a disciple of Christ than I did about being comfortable in that situation. Because I knew that the Lord would help me. He would take care of it.
That whole season was just me doing the next right thing over and over again, even when nothing seemed to be changing, even when I couldn't see or feel the changes, I kept doing it. And then one day, something did change. Now, even though this wasn't the most comfortable or desirable situation because no one wants to be unemployed when you have a household to run. And although it would appear that it didn't work out for the moment, that moment, the truth is it did in fact work out for my good. I believed that and I knew that. And because I had made the choice to trust in God's decisions.
Sometimes obedience doesn't look like this big thing. Sometimes it just sounds like... I'll just do this one more time. Not emotional or exciting or visible to anybody. My thumper, not every season is loud. Some of the most important ones are. But... It matters more than we think.
You don't have to feel ready. You don't have to feel motivated. You don't even have to feel confident. God isn't asking you for everything today, just the next step. Mike Thumper. You just have to take the next step.
If all you have in you right now is one more time, that's enough. Not because it's impressive, but because it's faithful.
The scripture I'm going to leave you with today is Zechariah 4.10 and just the beginning of it. And it says, for who hath despised the day of small things? I also like the New Living Translation, despise these small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.
You don't have to have the strength for the whole journey. Just enough to take the step one more time.
I am your host Stephanie. If this episode resonated with you and you want to ponder it a bit more, remember that there is a reflection guide on the website for today. And if you know someone who might be in this kind of season, feel free to share this episode and even the reflection guide with them along with a prayer. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm really glad you were here with me. And remember, glory doesn't come without grit.
P.S. Because this one really hit. And maybe this is just for the one person listening right now, but if you've been wondering if what you're doing even matters, if showing up again is even worth it, if praying that same prayer again is pointless. I just want you to know, God sees that. Even the quiet things, even the small things, even the things no one else notices, he sees it.
Looking back on that season, I thought nothing was happening. This was actually the season that changed everything. I just couldn't see it yet. So if that's where you are, don't quit in the middle of something that God might still be working through."
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