Posts

There is no shame in small

Small but mighty

“Many of you want to stand on a stage in front of thousands of women, yet you’ve never led a Bible study in your own home.”

My pen stopped mid-stroke.

I sat in workshops learning how to take the messages God put on my heart to spread them to the masses, but what about the handful of people right in front of me everyday? I have to say of everything shared at this conference 6 years ago, this statement is the only thing I remember.

Give small offerings

The Lord has been telling me to get smaller and simpler. Simply small is contrary to the way of the world.

Social media is all about having the wittiest caption, the most stunning pictures.

True life is difficult to capture anymore because life isn’t lived in the moments of glitz. In fact, most of life is lived in the mundane. The 10th load of laundry, the 2nd run to the grocery store in 2 days, the sitting in the same cubicle with the same non-view, the answering the same question.

God delights in our small offerings as much as our large offerings. We all have an allotment of resources we’ve been entrusted with. Skills, gifts, money, and time. When we spend time looking for the big God wants us to do, we may lose sight of the valuable right before us.

Matthew 25:14-30 tells the familiar Parable of the Talents. I encourage you to open your Bible and read the text for yourself.

John 6:9 is the story of the boy who had only 2 small fish and 5 loaves of bread. The disciples looked around at the masses and saw the big problem while looking for an equally big solution. Andrew looked at what was right before them. It was small, but it was there. A boy with his small offering.

He offered it, and Jesus did the multiplying miracle. In Jesus fashion, leftovers abounded.

When we surround ourselves with the big or spend our lives looking for the big, we lose sight of the value of little.

If the entire world simply served their small, the world would be a different place today.

Start small

Some of us don’t start something we feel the Lord calling us to because it seems too small. I’m convinced this often is a case of comparison robbing us of the courage to move forward.

My sons started a You Tube channel. They have a desire to create fun, clean, wholesome entertainment in an online world that is filled with godlessness. I can’t tell you how hard they work on their trick shots and practicing the craft of film making and editing.

When they look at their stats, it’s easy to get discouraged. You Tube is flooded with entertainers with millions of followers and sponsors. Their favorites receive millions of views on their videos.

If they stay focused on the famous You Tubers, they devalue their own talents and craft. I reminded my son that no one has been created exactly like him in the entire world. No one. Not one.

It’s ok to start small. It’s ok to stay small. It’s NOT ok to think our small is insignificant.

Some of us will move from small to big. Some won’t. Regardless, start small and move.

Delight in small

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” (The seven lamps represent the eyes of the LORD that search all around the world.)
 Zechariah 4:10

After I attended that conference years ago, I came home determined to serve small, offer small, and delight in small. I placed my trust in God to multiply and grow, but I would offer what I had. I had a home. I had Bible knowledge. I had a passion to lead women.

So I invited about 10 women to my house for a summer Bible study. I’d spent years sitting at the feet of Jesus studying. I’d never led a group. 6 women committed to that group. Women I knew well. Yet when they arrived, my heart raced right out of my chest. I felt sick to my stomach. In front of my friends.

Each week it got easier and easier. At the end of our 6 weeks together, I’d grown so much in the Lord.

A few years later I found myself on stages in front of hundreds of women. And a few years after that I found myself leading an entire women’s ministry.

My delight in the small beginning positioned me for the growth I would step into.

The small may never grow but it’s not wasted.

Not all of us move from leading women in our home to leading on a stage. Most don’t want to. And this is the heart of today’s post. That is more than ok.

What you have to offer is valuable and meaningful.

We are quick to discard the value and beauty of the small. We move onto the bigger, but the small remains. It will always be. And the world will chase the one with the most bling to offer. But there is a world in need of the ones willing to serve in the simplest and sweetest of ways.

Your small may actually be the planting of the massive in another.

When you invest in your family, it’s the greatest work you will ever do.

When you take the time to sit with your child, look her in the eye, and give your full attention, that is valuable. The world won’t see you do that. You won’t receive likes and shares. But she was seen and heard by you.

When you spend your evening in the kitchen after a long day at work and shuffling kids around to activities, you’ve invested in their health, comfort, and belonging. You’ve created a table in which you say, “Come. Sit. Be. You are loved. You are known. Here at this table.” For the child that battled the world at school, you’ve offered something no one else could. It’s small, but so mighty.

These small moments may feel insignificant, but can I encourage you today? They are so mighty.

Small but mighty.

Choose today to be small but mighty. Choose today to see the value in small. Choose today to pick up your meager offerings and open your hand. Give them out freely. Don’t compare your crumbs with her loaf of bread. Just give generously and lavishly.

Be simply small. After all, our Savior came as small as possible. God made man in the form of a baby. If our Savior could humble Himself, we can too.

I’ve prayerfully created a resource for you to guide you as you journey more intimately with God.Our souls long for us to tenderly care for them. Take a 14 day journey with me through Illuminate – Seeing God by the Light of His Word. I’ve created it in such a way that you will receive 14 emails, one per day. Each day will include an audio and a print link. You can simply hit play and allow yourself to relax and listen. Or you can read if you aren’t an audio lover.

I’ve heard from many Illuminate listeners that it’s become their favorite part of the day. It’s a break from the race and a redirect to the One who desires to walk with us intimately.

Purchase your copy today. And then buy a copy for a friend.

If you have been blessed by Illuminate, would you kindly share this post with your friends and family?

audio devotional