Don’t Overlook the Small Things
I said yesterday that we mustn’t limit God, and I believe that wholeheartedly. I believe that we are far too prone to think small, and dream small when we could be dreaming bigger.
But on the other side of the coin, though, I must mention this. Sometimes the smallest or most ordinary things are the ones God uses in the most powerful way.
A few weeks ago we celebrated Christmas. Mary did something that many, many, many women have done – she gave birth to a child. It seemed like a normal thing – but something great came of it.
Embracing the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
What about that stable he was born in? There was nothing big or fancy about that place. But God used something ordinary to bring about something wonderful.
In fact the Bible is full of ordinary people doing ordinary things that get used by God in extraordinary ways. David was a shepherd, the youngest of his family – but those years spent in the fields taught him some amazing truths that came out in Psalm 23. Paul was a tent-maker by trade, Peter was a fisherman – ordinary people doing ordinary things, yet used by God for greatness.
Here’s the point today: while I do want to encourage us to dream big, I don’t want us to neglect the small, ordinary things through which God can work.
The Greatness in Small Acts
Sometimes simply getting your family through the day is an extraordinary miracle.
Sometimes simply giving somebody a bowl of warm food can be a turning moment in their life.
Sometimes we are called not to fill stadiums or do huge things like that, but to do something small but profound at home or at work or on the road or in the shops or in your church.
Don’t limit yourself, but don’t neglect the little things either. God works in them too, and you don’t wanna be so focused on doing something huge that you miss an opportunity to do something great in a small way.