Little Things Are The Big Things

My children used to have a book called, “The King of Little Things,” by Bil Lepp. I highly recommend it for kids in early elementary school. I’ve probably read it 730 times – including to a kindergarten class and a very long stretch of days at bedtime.

It’s a beautifully written and illustrated book. The gist is that while big things might be important, they often don’t work without little things. Think a pair of pants with broken button, a car without a key or a door without a hinge. Little things are a big deal.

I had been thinking about purpose I guess – what I’m supposed to do on any given day. God referenced it twice in the span of a few hours one day, and the memory of that storybook crept back into my mind. We gave that book away a few years ago but somehow my mental Rolodex went right to it. A week a later, I still can’t stop thinking about the little things. Plus, I’ve been seeing those new NASA images from the James Webb Space Telescope and feeling exceptionally little in the grand scheme. I just can’t wrap my little mind around the vastness of the universe.

Could it be that God was reminding me that He is a God of little things or rather things that seem little to us? Maybe. I am forever amazed at how He is involved in the smallest details of our lives. Some people refer to those little things as God nods or God winks. I mean the moments when He gives you just the exact word or interaction with someone that answers a prayer. Those get me every time.

Could it also be that He was reminding me that the little purposes often add up to the bigger ones? I believe that’s what He was trying to get across on that day. I’ve spent a lot of time in prayer and deep thought lately wondering what’s next. What is the next step in the process of fulfilling what He is calling me to do?

Is there some big task I’m supposed to take on? Do we jump from one big task to another? Do we have more than one purpose? Do you also get bogged down in these concerns? I sometimes feel like everything I do should be giant projects for God. Everything should be constructive and pushing me further down some road. I think that’s a trick the enemy uses to handcuff us into doing nothing. It’s like being overwhelmed to the point of shutting down.

The scripture that really sticks with me here is 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul talks about one body made up of many parts. It begins at verse twelve, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.” I don’t have the space to quote it all here, but it says we can’t all be eyes or hands. We each must play our small part of the whole. Each smaller part must successfully do its job for the whole to work properly.

I had a foot injury last summer that made my daily walks a challenge. It was just one tiny area of my left heel. However, every time I put weight on it, pain shot up through my entire leg. I had to limp to avoid that pain. I altered the way I walked to the point that I hurt my toes and made my hip sore. Many days I chose to rest instead of talking my walk. I gained weight.

The point is that one little part of my body began not to work properly, and it took a toll on my entire body. Little things ultimately add up to make a big difference.

The same applies in our work for God. Our purpose and our calling are two different things. We all have the same purpose – love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Our calling is how we believe God is asking us to go about that. This is the fertile ground where the little things go to work.

Everything I do can’t be a book or speaking to a crowd. The little daily conversations I have with my children are just as important, and more so, than any blog post, book I write, or group I speak to. For some, showing up at church may be just as substantial as preaching a sermon or singing a solo. Those little things often add up in a big way.

Not everything we do will be big, headline-making, and spectacular. That’s not what God asks of us. He asks us to be faithful in the little things (Luke 16:10). My admittance to Heaven does not depend on having a million social media followers, writing a best-selling book, or being on the Forbes list of billionaires. It does depend on loving Jesus with my whole heart in the midst of my little every day life.

Friends don’t overlook the little things in your quest for the big ones. Writing an encouraging note to a friend in need might be as important as anything C.S. Lewis ever wrote. Living a life that leads your children to Jesus is as significant as any Billy Graham crusade. A kindness extended today may seem small, but it ripples into eternity.

When we take care of the little things we can look back and realize that was the big thing.

Photo: The Carina Nebula from the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STSci.