When we do little things
right, big things happen.
Sometimes we do not do the
little things because we do not like the little things we should do. But the reality is that by not
doing the little things, we will never be able to do the big things that would
be the culmination of all those little things. Great things will come if we are
faithful in doing the little things.
Jesus taught, “One who is
faithful in a very little is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10 ESV). He later shared the idea that if we are
faithful in the little things, then God will give us bigger things to do (Luke
19:11-27). Jesus wants us to know that our faithfulness is what matters,
whether it is in great things or in the most minor things.
By doing the little things
today, we will find ourselves where God wants us to be tomorrow. Often we would
like to make a sweat free, giant leap, but most accomplishments in life do not
come without a lot of hard work beforehand. One does not become a pro athlete
without all of the sweat and hard work. Nor does one become a great musician
without putting in hours upon hours of unrecognized practice. People who make
things look easy can do that because they have put in a lot of hard work on
small improvements behind the scenes. The same is true with churches. Each one
of us has to work hard, doing the small things that make our church great, in
order for our church to reach the next level.
In Zechariah, the prophet
writes about people who despise the “day of small things.” We might find
ourselves doing the same thing at times. Instead of doing the small things that
would make our life better, we lose the battle of small things. Life is rarely
wasted by a lack of desire for big things. Who doesn’t want a lot of money, a
fulfilling career, an amazing family, an awesome community, or great friends?
Unfortunately, those things are not magically achieved because we want them.
And they are often not realized because the effort is not put into the small
things that are necessary to bring them about. We waste our time on the
television or the internet when we could be doing small things that would
improve our life. Those are just two obvious areas, but we can waste time on a
myriad of activities. We all have good excuses to not do the things we should
be doing or to do the things we should not be doing, but in ignoring the small
things that we could do to improve ourselves, we miss out on all the small steps we need to
take to get where God is calling us. And ultimately, we miss out on being who we could be.
It’s never too late to get on
track. Maybe God wants to do a small thing in you. It might be a reminder in
the back of your head that you keep putting off. It could be a change that you
know you need to make but you just keep avoiding. Whatever it is, God has more
in store for you, but it has to start with that small change. If you don’t do
the small thing, then the big thing that is in store for you down the road will
never come your way.
We all know the familiar
words of Neil Armstrong, when he became the first man to walk on the moon: “One
small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.” Neil’s step off of the Lunar
Lander was just one small step. But it was the culmination of a lot of people
taking many small steps one after another, time and time again, working together, diligently in pursuit
of what they wanted to achieve. Someday, if we keep faithful in the
small things, we will notice that we have made a giant leap too. In doing the
small things, we can rest assured that we will find ourselves right where we
are supposed to be.
And our church can only be
the church that we are called to be if we all do the small things that we are
gifted at doing to get us there. Or maybe we aren’t even gifted at it yet but
God wants to develop that gift in us. So just do what you are feeling God wants
you to do even if you don't feel particularly qualified. Tomorrow may just be the day of big things, but only if today is the day of small things.
