Faithful in the little things

  The story of the 10 Minas in Luke 19 tells of a master who goes away, leaving his servants with some of his money to manage.  I have always thought about this story (and the similar on in Matthew 25) as teaching me to use what God has given me (like talents, abilities, and resources) wisely in big ways, but for some reason, when I heard a sermon about this passage recently, the smaller things grabbed my attention.  In the middle of verse 17, this phrase stood out to me: “because you have been faithful in a very little thing,” and I have been pondering it since that Sunday.  

What does it mean to be faithful in a very little thing?  Let me give you a little background so you can understand where I am coming from.  I have four children whom I have stayed home with and even homeschooled for most of their childhood.  At this point, only one is still in high school.  Even though three of them live at home, they all three have jobs and one is also in college.  This means that I am actually home alone a fair amount for the first time in over twenty years.  I also recently had to quit my part time job.  But God is teaching me a lot about being faithful in the little things in this season.  My house needs to be cleaned.  Food needs to be prepared.  Laundry needs to be done.  All these “very little things” are important to my family, along with countless other things.  None of what I do right now is “big stuff” or attention grabbing in any way.  Most of what I do goes completely unnoticed.  But that is what it means to be faithful in the very little things.  All of the things in Titus 2 that God, through Paul, tells women are good are very little things as far as the world is concerned.  Yes, the Proverbs 31 woman did some work.  But it wasn’t work for her own glory but for her family’s good.  In fact, Proverbs 31:23 tells us that it is her husband who is known, not herself.  And then in verse 28, it is her family who praises her and blesses her, not anyone else.  

To be faithful in the very little things, women, is to be faithful, submissive, and obedient in our lives each moment, step by step.  This brings glory to God.  We work in our homes and for our families for His glory, not our own.  We walk faithfully because, as we seek Him, He teaches us that this faithfulness is the perseverance He is giving us.  Faithful in the very little things, ladies.  Faithful in the lack of sleep.  Faithful in the tasks that have to be done over and over again.  Faithful when no one praises us, even when everyone is fussing at us and complaining.  Faithful in the morning.  Faithful in the evening.  Faithful in the very little things of every day life.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I am not . . .

OK, it has been a while since I blogged, but today I am feeling a little inspired. I am struggling mightily, again. Guilt. All the mistakes of the past. All the mistakes of the present. Guilt. I was listening to some music this morning, trying to focus on praise, when a song came on talking about how much I was forgiven. And grace washed over me, again. I am forgiven. Right there in the laundry room, while folding to mountains of clothes, I said it, out loud - "Go away, Satan, and take your guilt with you! I am forgiven, and that is all there is to it!" Peace. Followed quickly by my usual need to find a friend of my childhood. I do some googling, again. Maybe success this time, maybe not. But why do I have this terrible need to keep looking to people of my past? What am I clinging to? What am I running from? This week is a restful break. Don't get me wrong, there is still work to do. But instead of having school, we are just going to do some cleaning and relax a little. Y
Read more

Crushed, but not broken

Anyone who really knows me (the few there are), knows that I love children's literature. One thing I love about really good, usually older, children's books is the parallels that God reveals about Himself to me through these timeless treasures. The more I study God's Word and commmune with His heart, the more I see these. Here is my most recent discovery: The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams is a great example. Hebrews 5:8 says "Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered." As I pondered this truth, and the truth that our own suffering is for our good and His glory, I was a little confused. Why do we have to suffer and what does that really mean? Then I read this book, and the Spirit spoke clarification to my heart. In this book, a young boy receives a stuffed rabbit for Christmas. The rabbit is beautiful and nice, however, not played with at first. Then, as the boy loves the rabbit, it becomes shabby and suffers because of its missha
Read more

Psalm 127

  127   (Biblical text in italics) This is a “wisdom psalm” written by King Solomon.   The ESV Study Bible gives a few helpful themes: “without the Lord’s blessing, human toil is worthless” and “diligence is neither greed nor restless anxiety.” 1 Unless Yahweh builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless Yahweh watches the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. When we try to do things ourselves, be it control things about our home or protect those we love, we end up failing.  We must trust the Lord to do all these things and be about the business of obediently following Him, no matter what He asks us to do.  We must work in faith, trusting God with the outcome of our labors. 2 It is in vain that you rise up early, That you sit out late, O you who eat the bread of painful labors; For in this manner, He gives sleep to His beloved. The Lord doesn’t want us to be focused strictly on busyness and “getting ahead” or even on protection of those around us.  He give
Read more