As a pastor I get the joy of hearing stories of big things God is doing in people’s lives. When this happens, we always want to share and tell the story to others. We praise God for His work. As great as the “big” things are, they are infrequent. As someone once said, “if miracles happened all the time, they’ be called regulars.” Most of the time God works in the small details, in the small tings in life. If we aren’t careful we can overlook them since they aren’t the big things we hear about from time to time. It may even lead you to think God doesn’t work in your life unless one of those big things happens. I challenge you to look out for the small things that He does. This is the garden where our faith grows…in the small things.
In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7 Jesus talks some about prayer. He says in 6:11, “give us this day our daily bread.” That is that we are to ask and trust God to give us what we need each day. Notice that Jesus says ‘bread’, He does not say ‘ribeye’ or ‘ice cream’. Those are nice, but they aren’t needs. That’s not to say that He doesn’t give us our wants from time to time, but He promises to meet our needs. The extra things are just…extra!
Last Thursday evening Matthea was preparing dinner. Our 6 year-old spilled a container of milk into our toaster and onto the counter and floor. You say, “how did that happen?” My best answer is to simply reply, “have you ever been in the kitchen with a 6 year-old?” Needless to say the toaster was done (it was toast). We use our toaster very frequently. With a family of 6 it is a necessary appliance. I almost went out to the store to purchase a new toaster after dinner. I decided to wait until Friday morning to deal with the toaster situation. I can’t say I prayed about it, but I did ask God on Friday morning to help me make wise decisions in all that I do. Not long after I prayed I received an email from our neighborhood email list-serve. A family in the neighborhood said they were getting rid of their 4 slice toaster, it works great and is sitting on their porch for the first person who came to get it. My thought was “there’s our new toaster!”
I drove over to the house and picked it up. It works great! I learned that the previous owners had bought a new toaster and spent about a week trying to decide what to do with their previous toaster. They decided to set it out for free for the neighbors. I mean, how often does someone need another toaster? What’s the average time a used toaster would sit on the porch awaiting a new home? For this one, it sat for less than an hour! Had they emailed about the toaster prior to Friday morning, someone else would have gotten it….maybe. Either way, it was a great lesson for us about God’s provision. Even the details like a toaster!
The added bonus with this toaster is that it has digital timers and controls! I know that isn’t necessary, that wouldn’t have been a requirement on the new one I bought. But, God knows I like buttons and lights!
What do you need for God to do today? What thing seems small to you that He is willing to meet in your life? Trust Him for it, celebrate it when He provides!
A Pastor's Thoughts 