Small Things
“And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.” (Mark 4:30-31)
With extraordinary extravagance, many endeavors enter the world, but they are a flash in the pan, a shot in the dark, the backfire of an engine that is dying. The kingdom of God begins with little pomp and pageantry. The kingdom of God begins on a day of small things. The promise given to Adam seemed small, but it slayed the Great Red Dragon. A jog around Jericho seemed small, but it brought low high walls. A shepherd boy with three small stones seemed small, but he rocked a giant. A virgin birthed a small baby boy – oh, how small He was! And yet, He conquered Caesar, defeated death, and brought a beatdown people from bondage to a freedom as large and wide as heaven itself.
When I see boisterous men in our day blustering about their grand machinations and inflated superiority, all I hear is vanity and a chasing after the wind. These supposedly enlightened souls are but candles trying to compete with the sun. But when I see small things – when I see a father praying with his son, a mother worshipping with her daughters, the young bearing up the old and the old bearing with the young; when I see teenagers searching the Scriptures and adults sacrificing their very selves for Christ’s sake, I see the very chariots of heaven storming the gates of hell itself, grinding that colossal kingdom to dust. Don’t you see it, too? “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” (1 Cor. 1:27)
Many fear serving God because they cannot do a great and glorious thing. How about a small thing? How about something so small that only God will be able to see it? Can you have a struggling family over for Sunday lunch? Can you let some children sit with you on Sunday so that mom can have a break? Can you take a young boy fishing and read the Scriptures with him? Can you go to a ball game and be an encourage a teenager? Can you take a hot plate to a homebound believer? Are these small things? Yes. But our God does much with little. These small things will make a great impact while those supposedly great endeavors are gone and forgotten.
