Trust and Obey

For Women By Women

By Missy Clark

February 20, 2026

Psalm 37:3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Elizabeth Elliot, living faithfully through many hard lessons, once said, “Trust God, obey Him, and do the next thing.” She coined the phrase, “Just do the next thing.”

We know that we are supposed to trust God at all times, but what do we do after that? There are times to “be still,” as it says in Proverbs, but there are also times to just keep on going with what we know to be right. That is, putting action to your faith. 

Examples: As you are trusting God to provide, you can continue to work, and do your part. As you are praying for the salvation of a loved one, you can set a godly example for them to see. As you go through the next trial, you can faithfully continue in God’s Word.

We can see examples of this all throughout God’s Word.

Noah trusted God to take care of them while they were in the ark. He had no control over where the boat went. I’m sure there were things that needed to be done while living in a floating zoo for a year. He “just did the next thing.”

David trusted that God would keep him alive to be king someday. It was a long road from shepherd to king, but David trusted God. He kept doing the things he knew to do. 

Paul trusted that God would fulfil his gospel plan through him and others. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t stop. He kept going. He trusted God.

Friend, when we say we are trusting God, what are we doing after that? Like so many in the Bible, we need to keep doing what we know to be right, while we are trusting God.

Trusting God is not only to get us to the end of hardship, but to learn and grow and even thrive in the midst of it.

Reflection—Trust God. “Do the next thing.”