The Greatness of Small Things
Making a Small Difference
“A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in a little thing is a great thing.
- Hudson Taylor
One of the common misconceptions that plague our hearts from time to time is the thought that what we are doing is insignificant because it’s regarded as small. We’d love to do something ‘great’, whatever that might be, and tend to imagine that the little things we do won’t really accomplish anything of worth.
Yet Christ’s Kingdom enters and grows in our world precisely through what appears to be the small and the weak. From the perspective of the Gospels, small is big when it comes to the Kingdom.
A smile we give and prayer we offer might seem a small thing – but in God’s hands, they become great & mighty gifts.
An hour of service at a school, hospital, or church, whether with youth, children, college students, or the elderly, might not seem much, but in God’s hands, that mustard seed becomes a massive tree.
Skipping a TV show to visit a hospital so we can read to and sit with a friend who is fighting to get well might seem a little thing to do, but in God’s hands – and in that patient’s eyes – it is gigantic.
Two or three people humbly gathered for prayer can shake a city or nation.
Funding a mission trip or missionary, a church budget, a deacons fund, and a collegiate outreach with gracious, disciplined contributions might look not look like a big deal, but in God’s hands, these are titanic.
Five loaves and two fish might not seem a feast fit for a King or a crowd, but in the right hands, larger things begin to happen with smaller offerings.
Going Big
Jesus said the widow who gave the ‘mite’ – the very smallest of coins – gave more than all because she gave all she had (Luke 21:1ff). That’s where true stewardship begins: giving all. I’m delighted Bill Gates gives so generously to causes he values – but the greatest givers in God’s eyes are often people who are giving what is, by comparison to Bill’s, a microscopic particle. In God’s eyes, however, those particle gifts are atomic and power the advance of the Kingdom.
Giving begins not with the apparent size of the contribution but with the first step of giving ALL to God, to begin with. All we have and are belongs to him by creation, redemption, and destination. As Paul wrote, “For from him, through him, and to him are all things”(Romans 11). We are fooling ourselves if we declare “Mine” over what Christ already rules. We are not our own and neither is the stuff in our garage or 401(K) funds. It’s all his. This is the beginning of discipleship rather than some advanced stage of development. “No one can be my disciple who does not first give up all of his possessions”, said Jesus (Luke 14:33).
We need to remember that increments add up. A Roman centurion regularly gave to a local synagogue where he was stationed. His name was Cornelius and you can read his story in Acts 10-11. At the story's outset, an angel appeared to him with essential instructions but began by noting that Cornelius’ prayers and gifts had ascended as an offering into heaven. We may give at Church or a ministry worthy of that trust, but each of these prayerfully offered gifts are given to God. He receives them. Know that, and you’ll always pray as you give and give as you pray. You’ll also know that little gifts prayerfully given make a massive difference. Cornelius’ gifts paved the way for the open roads to the Gentile world for the Gospel. That’s all. Wow!
As the Summer of 2022 begins, join me in praying that we will be people who joyfully, faithfully, and graciously do the small things that will advance the Kingdom of God in ways our imaginations cannot conceive. Great things happen when God’s people do the little things. The mite and the mission are never far apart.
Maybe it means skipping dinner out once a month to support church planting. Maybe it means NOT buying a new Bible (how many do you have??) and using that money to support a Bible translator working with people groups that have no Bible at all. Maybe it means going online to contribute to SRC or another ministry like RUF that is faithfully preaching Christ.
Small things await us - and that’s BIG news! This will make a massive difference to someone somewhere – especially to you. Watch the joy of Jesus flow in your own heart when you start to be the person who does the small stuff.
Do you think the gift you give today – in all the forms such gifts can take – makes little to no difference? Nothing could be further from the truth. The mite remains mighty, and by the weak, God has chosen to confound the strong.
The cry of a tiny baby in Bethlehem, the baskets of leftovers after the feeding of a multitude, and the poverty of a crucified King point the way.