Little things

Today is the first official day of summer, and so far it has been a pretty eventful one for our family. Our 14 year old son, while out of town playing in a golf tournament, broke his foot--on the 2nd full day of his summer vacation! He and his buddies were playing a little basketball while waiting for a ride to the golf course driving range. When he came down from getting a rebound, he landed on a piece of firewood, and dramatically changed his plans for the next month and a half of summer. Forget about all the golf tournaments he had signed up to play. Forget about Carolina golf camp with his friends. Forget about swimming at the pool, fishing in the trout stream, hiking in the mountains... well, you get the idea. But I have to say, he has been an incredibly good sport about it, and aside from copious hours of X-Box games (which his mama hates!), he has certainly made the best of it. I couldn't help but think of Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of a man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

While we know God is ultimately in control of our lives, we tend to live as if we established our every step. At least, I know I do. I have a plan in my mind of how today and tomorrow and next week should go (or how I want them to go), and when things don't go according to my plans and my dreams, I can quickly grow discouraged or frustrated. Disappointed expectations are ultimately behind most of our conflicts with people and with God. We say we trust God, but, O brother, throw a curveball to our expectations and we tend to panic or become despondent or angry or start to doubt and question God.

And that's why we need to make those deposits in our faith accounts today and every day. We don't know when the bottom will drop out or that unanticipated and unwanted bend in the road will come, so we need to get ready now, today. We can't specifically prepare for a broken foot or a wayward child or a serious illness, but we can daily seek to know and love God through His Word a little better every single day. It's as if we deposit a little more every single day into our spiritual bank accounts when we choose to spend time with Him. It's not a matter of checking it off our to do list; it's a matter of knowing Him a little better and seeing Him a little more clearly in His Word. It's a matter of allowing His Holy Spirit to speak to us and strengthen us a little bit more every day.

I love this quote from the great basketball coach, John Wooden: "Now you're not going to make great improvement in one day. But if you miss out one day, you've lost a little bit. You've got to build up a little each day. It's little things that eventually become big things and make big things happen." We tend to belittle the small things, the little tasks, the seemingly everyday, commonplace chores, the "one" little day, but it's all the "little things that eventually become big things...." It's so true in every area of our lives: whether training for some athletic endeavor, or cleaning out the clutter, or learning to cook, or growing in godliness--each day we choose whether we will grow closer to our ultimate goal or farther away.

Isn't it so easy to miss a day here or there in God's Word? Nobody dies, the sky doesn't fall, and we think "well, that's just no big deal. God is a God of grace." And He is, but when we skip a day with Him, we forfeit the blessings He wanted to share with us on that day. And then each day we miss, we grow an imperceptibly bit further away from Him, until we wake up and wonder how on earth we got so far away from the Lord. We wonder why we have no peace and no joy. We wonder why we lack the strength to get through some sudden unexpected crisis.

God never ever abandons us, but sometimes we, one tiny little choice at a time, abandon Him.

But here's the good news--He is ready and waiting for us to return! Like the Father waiting with open arms for the prodigal son, He is ready to run to us if we will simply turn to Him. Just confess and repent and seek Him who is always always always diligently, urgently, lovingly, seeking us. Start today. No matter what is going on--for there will ALWAYS be something going on!--stop and determine to take time to seek Him in His Word.

Hebrews refers to those who mature in their faith, because they "have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil." (Heb. 5:14) Practice makes perfect! My sons love golf, and they have to practice daily and hit ball after ball after ball to become better golfers. Musicians practice daily if they want to excel, and they must play countless boring scales and drills day after day if they want to improve. Our children become better readers by reading (and moms nagging them to death). And if we want to grow in godliness, if we want to be prepared to meet the storms of life with the peace and power of the Lord, then we better start getting "trained by constant practice" in God's Word.

Starting today. No matter what. Spending a little time alone with Him. Until one day, we will see the Lord using all those "little things" to "make big things happen." Because He is a God who loves to use little things and little people with little abilities to do "far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us..." (Eph. 3:20) So to Him be all the glory!