It’s the little things

If you have been on this earth for at least 18 years or more, I know you’ve probably heard the term, “It’s the little things that count“, perhaps even spoken from a female’s lips to her significant other.

People often refer to this phrase as it relates to relationships, whether romantic or not, usually as a way to let someone know that there are certain things/acts that one does to express that he/she is important to the other.

I am sure many would agree that this statement is true…that the little things do, in fact, count.

Especially as it relates to this:

On the other hand, when someone makes statements like:

“Oh that’s a little thing.”

“It’s a small thing.” 

“It’s just a little white lie. No one will ever know.“

all of the sudden the “little things” don’t seem to count for much anymore.

We tend to make light of “smaller matters” especially when/where it may benefit us. However, we often forget that these “little things” or small matters all matter to God. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and have made Him Lord over your life, everything concerning you is a “big deal” to Him.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly
    He delights in every detail of their lives. ~Psalm 37:23, NLT

Everything that happens in the life of His children, i.e. the godly, is His concern.

This is because as His children, we also represent Him in the world as His ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20).

Often times it is in the “little things” that our true character is shown, exposed and/or proven. In the life of a Christ follower, there is no such thing as a little white lie. There is no such thing as being a little dishonest, a little faithful, a little trustworthy.

Either you are or you aren’t. (In the words of a college friend, “Is you or ain’t you?”)

The little things also apply to our waiting as well as what the Lord decides to entrust to us during this season of our life.

Recently, in my devotional time, this scripture spoke to me as it was something my pastor had been talking about as it relates to character.

If you [Charlene] are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you [Charlene] are dishonest in the little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. ~Luke 16:10 (emphasis mine)

I found myself asking these questions:

What “little things” has God entrusted to me?

Have I been found faithful with/in it?

Have I proven to Him that I can handle greater responsibilities?

The answers to these questions are a determining factor as to whether He will trust me with more.

And many times, the wait seems (or is) longer because of how we have been found in the little things.

It is in the little things that the character of Christ is formed in us.

My church has been in a Bible study series called “Why Is God Taking So Long?” and we have been discussing the process of waiting. My pastor had us consider that maybe it really isn’t that God is taking so long, but that something needs to happen in and through us in this waiting period.

We may have the qualifications, gifts, skills, money, resources, potential, power, etc. that, in the natural, would make us confident that we should get what we have been waiting for/on.

Yet none of this matters if we haven’t allowed Christ’s character to be formed in us first. All of the above things won’t matter if we aren’t continually going before the Lord, repenting and asking Him to continue to shape our hearts in a way that cares about the little things, the things of God, the little foxes, the small, seemingly insignificant things.

This quote tied it all together for me:

“The great tragedy would be to live your life waiting for that moment to come instead of living your life preparing for when that moment comes.”

~Erwin Raphael McManus

The moment could be marriage, a dream job, the house you saw years ago that you always wanted, finishing your degree, launching a business, writing the book, seeing a relationship restored, etc.

Consider this, “How are you preparing for that moment right now?  What “little things” are you being faithful in/over right now that are helping to prepare you for that moment or for what you have been waiting for? How prepared are you right now for what you have been waiting for? Can God trust you?

Ask yourself these questions-the same ones that were posed to me in a devotional from YouVersion recently:

Are there areas of your life where you feel God has called you to prepare yourself for something larger?

How has God rewarded your stewardship of small things with the trust of larger ones?

You may find that it’s in the little things that count that you discover your answer.