Little Things

It is the little things that trip me up, that challenge my faith, that cause me greatest regrets later on when the Deceiver brings them to my mind again and again. It is the critical word that jumps out and attacks, the passing on of “harmless” gossip, the negative thought that comes unbidden but is allowed to take root with destructive potential. It is saying yes to one more thing than I can manage or saying no to something I really should do. It is not attending to the important and then having to deal with it as it become urgent. It is missed opportunities – little moments when I could have blessed my husband, my children, my best friend or the cashier with the sad face at the check-out counter. It is pride that rears its ugly head so often.

I can handle the big things – the illness and death of my father, the major change in my mother’s health and lifestyle, the marriage of my three children, the birth of grandchildren, the change of jobs for my husband, financial insecurity, being uprooted and moved out of my comfort zone. I can handle these because I have no choice but to go limp in the arms of my heavenly Father, totally dependent for comfort, security, peace of mind and the ability to put one foot in front of the other until this particular storm passes.

Why, then, do I try in my own strength to handle the minutia of each day? Why don’t I depend on Him to take each thought captive, to set a guard before my lips and to let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in His sight?

The small things, also, most often are what disrupt and distract the church from its mission. It is not usually issues of doctrinal import but murmuring, grumbling, complaining that niggle at and eat away and certainly can erode the very structure of the body of Christ. It is majoring on minors and getting so caught up in views, activities and discussions that have no eternal ramifications. It is pride and attitudes and silly territorial issues that have no place in God’s scheme of things.

The challenge, then, both personally and for the church is to have our focus so firmly locked on Christ that the temporal and worldly cannot draw us. The challenge is to be like the man of Psalm 1 who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor sits in the set of mockers but claims his delight in the word of God and meditates on it day and night. It is to be like the tree planted by the water, yielding fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, goodness, self-control and gentleness.