Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Faithful in the Small Things

Yesterday I was responding to an email from a dear friend, and despite reading it two or three times, I didn't quite realize the implication of her words until a few hours later, as I was praying. She talked of her impatience with her senior year of college, dreading the tasks of academia that stand between her and her longing to go out into the world, and she said (I hope she doesn't mind if I quote her):

"I am also praying that the Lord gives me the patience to deal with the acedemic stuff. I really have no desire to do busy work, I just want to get out there. I know that I must be faithful in the small things so that God will trust me with bigger things later. God is so good!"

She didn't say anything revolutionary; I've read Jesus' words in the parable of the talents in Matthew before:

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" (Matthew 25:23)

But yesterday it struck me how applicable that was to my current situation. I don't have a job right now; truth be told, I don't have a lot of responsibilities at all, aside from cooking, keeping the apartment clean, etc. And more than once in the last few weeks, I have voiced to friends that my life feels "small." I don't feel like what I do matters to anyone (but Steve), or that I'm really making a difference in others' lives. I've longed for something more. It's not that I want to be famous or renowned or important (though most of us wouldn't mind those things), but just that I want to feel like my life matters.

My friend's words were a gentle rebuke to me yesterday, though she didn't even realize it as she wrote them. How can I expect God to give me bigger and better things to do if I'm not even showing Him that I can be trusted with the little ones? If I'm not being faithful in the small and seemingly insignificant tasks that are set before me each day, how can I expect that I'll be faithful when something monumental comes along?

Lord, give me the grace to be joyful and diligent in the small things You give me to do: that I would learn all You have for me to learn during this season and that I would do all things, no matter how mundane, for Your glory, faithful to Your calling on my life.

1 comment:

Jules said...

Well said--that sure hits home.

What may seem small and unimportant to us is very significant in God's eyes.