Who dares despise the day of small things…? (Zechariah 4:10 NIV)
Last week, within just two days, I encountered three opportunities to reflect on the value of small things.
The first was a question: When did we decide that bigger was better? I reflected on this in terms of Jesus’ Church in my post Sunday. The second came from a study of one of the prophecies we often hear during Advent:
Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. (Isaiah 11:1 NLT)
I was struck by the image of that tiny sprout growing from where a massive tree once stood. It reminded me that small beginnings can carry enormous potential.
The third was from a speaker who shared her feelings of inadequacy when surrounded by many gifted people. God spoke to her heart: “Be a teaspoon.”
Imagine yourself baking cookies or brownies and leaving out the baking soda or the salt. What would happen to your food? It certainly wouldn’t turn out as you had expected. That little teaspoon of leaven or salt makes all the difference in whether or not you have flavorful and beautiful cookies, or lumps of baked ingredients.
Sometimes we feel like we have little to offer God. Our health, talents, relationships, time, energy, or faith may seem like a pittance compared to what we wish we had. We may ask, “Why bother?”
But that’s not how Jesus sees it.
He commended a widow for giving just two small coins because she gave all she had (Luke 21:1–4). Small things are profoundly valuable to God when offered wholeheartedly. If all you feel you have is a “teaspoon” in the recipe of life, remember: that teaspoon is vital, and God can multiply it beyond imagination.
Come to God with your teaspoon of faith—ask him to grow it (Matthew 17:20).
Come to others with a teaspoon of encouragement—watch God multiply it (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
Come to church with a teaspoon of contagious joy—watch it spread (Philippians 4:4–5).
As the hymn reminds us:
Does the place you’re called to labor
Seem too small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And He’ll not forget His own.
Little is much when God is in it!
Labor not for wealth or fame;
There’s a crown, and you can win it,
If you go in Jesus’ name.
— “Little Is Much When God Is in It,” Kittie L. Suffield (1924)
Infinite God,
Thank you that the little we have is much in your eyes, when you are in it. Thank you for the call to bring our figurative mustard seed or two coins to you and watch you grow it into the fullness of who you’ve created us to be. God, when we feel tiny and inconsequential, help us to ask you to magnify our faith so that you can do supernatural things through us. Give us more joy, faith, and encouragement so that we can be a positive and godly influence to those around us, we ask in Jesus’s name. AMEN.
h/t S.C.