The Big Is in the Small
I have a beautiful oak tree in my front yard, and its wide-spreading limbs seem to span forever. As I look at that tree, it’s hard for me to believe that it started from an acorn. All I see is big and majestic, but it had to start as a small seed. That’s how God works. He takes the small, and He goes big.
In Matthew 14, a multitude had followed Jesus to a remote place, and He had spent the whole day healing the sick. As evening approached, the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away so they could go into the villages and buy themselves food. But Jesus said, “You feed them.” They said, “Sorry, but we only have five loaves and two fish.” What the disciples thought was small, what they thought they couldn’t handle, was not a problem for Jesus. He said, “Bring them to Me.” “And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes” (Matthew 14:19). Jesus took the small and let the disciples go big. He let what they had in their hands feed the multitudes.
God wants to increase us, but oftentimes we overlook the small things because we want to go big. We may even think that we don’t have to deal with something small because it’s not going to make that much difference anyway. It’s easy to think that how we’re treating our spouse or all the complaining we do about our job doesn’t really matter. Perhaps there’s a lack of integrity, leaving the office early, thinking the boss isn’t looking.
All of that is small stuff, but God says what we believe and our attitudes are very important. The small things matter to Him, and if we don’t learn to handle the small, we’ll never go big. Perhaps you need to forgive someone or start being on time at work. That may seem small, but it’s only through the “five loaves and two fish” that you can go big. You want a great marriage. You want that promotion. You have to do what’s right in the small things.
If you will learn to handle the small things in your life, He’ll enlarge your capacity for more. The secret is to bring them all to Jesus. Let Him break them and bless them, and He’ll go big in your life. The next time He says, “You feed them,” just put those small things into His hands.
In Matthew 14, a multitude had followed Jesus to a remote place, and He had spent the whole day healing the sick. As evening approached, the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away so they could go into the villages and buy themselves food. But Jesus said, “You feed them.” They said, “Sorry, but we only have five loaves and two fish.” What the disciples thought was small, what they thought they couldn’t handle, was not a problem for Jesus. He said, “Bring them to Me.” “And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes” (Matthew 14:19). Jesus took the small and let the disciples go big. He let what they had in their hands feed the multitudes.
God wants to increase us, but oftentimes we overlook the small things because we want to go big. We may even think that we don’t have to deal with something small because it’s not going to make that much difference anyway. It’s easy to think that how we’re treating our spouse or all the complaining we do about our job doesn’t really matter. Perhaps there’s a lack of integrity, leaving the office early, thinking the boss isn’t looking.
All of that is small stuff, but God says what we believe and our attitudes are very important. The small things matter to Him, and if we don’t learn to handle the small, we’ll never go big. Perhaps you need to forgive someone or start being on time at work. That may seem small, but it’s only through the “five loaves and two fish” that you can go big. You want a great marriage. You want that promotion. You have to do what’s right in the small things.
If you will learn to handle the small things in your life, He’ll enlarge your capacity for more. The secret is to bring them all to Jesus. Let Him break them and bless them, and He’ll go big in your life. The next time He says, “You feed them,” just put those small things into His hands.