One of the scariest things God ever asked me was, “Are you willing to lead a normal life for me?”
The short answer? Um, no thank you, God.
I would like to do big and important things that drastically change people’s lives, or at least my own. I’d like to know exactly what it is I’m supposed to be doing on earth and the next 5 steps that lead up to a killer climax in my story.
Because part of me believes if God gave me big things, the steps would be easy to see, and I’d never lose courage because I would see the result.
The catch is… I think we’ve got it backwards. We think big things, want to speak on stage to hundreds of people, release the next best-seller, and make the biggest impact. We think those kind of big moments should be our goal. And that’s how we measure our success, or our faith, or how “connected” we are with God.
But honestly, thumbing back through my own story…Those big things are good and encouraging and needed, but it’s the little things that changed my life.
A woman with a fierce and gentle faith shared a picture with me.
Imagine 2 parallel lines.
They’re so close, but they never meet. But if one of those lines shifts only one degree… eventually, they do. It’s a one degree shift. It’s barely even noticeable.
But it changes the whole trajectory.
Do you know how long those two parallel lines could go on and look like nothing changed? You might not even notice until you hit the other line. And then, could you trace back and pinpoint where that shift happened? The tiny shift that changed everything? Probably not.
I may go on wonderful trips and experience great prayer times and maybe even write the book I’ve always dreamed about writing. But I may get to heaven and realize those “big” accomplishments pale in comparison to a time I don’t even remember. Like someone walking up next to Jesus and saying to me, “Hi, I met you once and you said this encouraging thing to me, and then moved on with your life and forgot. But because of that conversation, I met this person, and ended up in this country, and shared the gospel with this person, who saved this person’s life…” until this giant network of goodness has unfolded and Jesus has a twinkle in his eye and whispers, “See?”
That’s why I eventually said yes to God. Because he wasn’t asking me to do nothing, or saying I wasn’t good enough for “big” things. The heart of that question was, “Are you willing to be faithful in the small things and not see your reward just yet?”
Because the reward you don’t see will dwarf the one you do see every time.
There will be small shifts in your perspective, in yourself, and ones you create in other people. Because God is faithful and he is dead-set on changing everything for good – even when you don’t notice.
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…”
Zechariah 4:10
What if we lived life like that? Like every small thing could change eternity for someone?
