August 13, 2013

Zechariah 4:10 — For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

There’s nothing particularly Christian about Arundhati Roy’s novel, “The God of Small Things” but its theme of how the small things in life affect people’s behavior and their lives does resonate with me. God is a mighty, all-powerful Lord — and yet He cares so deeply for small things and small people. Remember how he separates the sheep from the goats? The sheep — “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren” … The goats — “Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these.”

The Lord is of course capable of mighty and grand effects … When Elijah raced Ahab to Jezreel, there was “a great rain.” But how did it start? “Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea”. A little later in 1 Kings we find “a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks” and “after the wind an earthquake; … but how does The Lord speak to Elijah? …in “a still small voice.”

Jesus was a lover of small things too … little children, a widow’s mite, the lowest place at the feast — all those things met with His approval.

Small things often have another place in God’s economy. Are you a shy witness? Do you avoid talking to people about your faith because of your ordinariness, your unimportance? I must admit that’s often the way I feel. It’s a lot of effort to get over a sense of not wanting to push my beliefs on others. Dr. Bill Bright, co-founder of Campus Crusade for Christ wrote “The Transferable Concept: How You Can Introduce Others To Christ”. In it, he gives eight reasons why God wants you to witness. He writes “Sixth, God wants you to witness because of the benefits to those who witness. Witnessing stimulates your spiritual growth. Witnessing leads you to pray and to study God’s Word and encourages you to depend on Christ.” Witnessing takes our small selves and turns them into the greatest channel for good the world has ever known!
There is another side, too, to this business of despising small things in witnessing. Sometimes those we try to talk to about Jesus hold themselves too lightly to listen. Charles Spurgeon puts it like this:

They cannot believe that salvation can come by ordinary means, or through their present knowledge and emotions: these are too small in their esteem, they crave for signs and wonders.

They are wrong to despise small things, and so are we! God will use small people and small things to have His greatest affect on lives if we will only put the same value on small things as He does!