I walked to Samford Hall today without my phone. For me, that was a big, HUGE deal. You see, like many people I have been trying relentlessly to attain the ever-elusive 10,000 steps per day in an effort to be healthier in the new year. My phone is my official step counter, so for the first month of the year I’ve been nearly neurotic about taking it with me everywhere I go. My co-workers and I have laughed because I’ve been so diligent to pick up that silly phone whether walking three doors down to the copy machine or three flights of stairs down to the mail room. I want credit for those steps, by golly! It’s hard to get 10,000 a day with a desk job!

But today, I walked to Samford Hall without my phone; and I did it on purpose. I walked down four flights of stairs in Buchanan Hall, across Boren Courtyard, up three flights of stairs in Samford Hall, back across the courtyard, and up four flights of stairs in Buchanan without my phone. You see, it occurred to me that whether I can see the step count increasing on my phone or not, my body benefits from exercise when I am more active. My body gets stronger with every step I take whether my phone records those steps or not, and it’s much easier to accomplish the tasks at hand without adding a phone into the mix. Why have I felt such a need to see each step of progress? What have I thought my personal overseeing of the process would do to help? “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27)

As I was walking phone-free to Samford Hall, God used the occasion to speak gently to my heart: “I am working all things for good whether you see every step of the process or not.” Woah. Mic drop. “Trust me, Tracy, even if you don’t understand the process.” What?!? Do you mean that I don’t need to see every little detail of what God is doing in order to trust that He is working out His perfect will in my life and the lives of those I love? Doesn’t God need me to help oversee my life and the many others I care about? Of course not.

This may seem like a simple truth, but for me today it was revolutionary. There’s no need for me to carry my phone and make note of every hurtful word spoken against my loved ones and me. There’s no need to carry my phone and input every thoughtless, insensitive action that weighs me down. There’s no need to rely upon my phone to calculate when everything will be normal again. The reality is that God is working all things together for my good and His glory, and He’s doing it without revealing all the steps that lead from heartache to Heaven.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)

Gracious God, strengthen my faith in you step by step.