Being Faithful Where You Are And With What You Have:
Often God teaches us lessons at the least expected moments! One day, while flipping through TV channels a little low in spirit wondering what I was really doing in life; God spoke to me ….thru an episode of the TV serial “Desperate Housewives”. The episode about the funeral of Eli the handyman. The story is a flashback into the lives of the four friends who remember how Eli (a nobody from nowhere) in his unassuming quiet and gentle manner actually transforms each of their lives in unforgettable ways. I learnt a lesson then and there: “We cannot do great things but we can do small things with great love and the good that will come out of these deeds though we may not see immediately, one day we will surely know. Then, we will realize that it was these small things that actually made all the difference!” |
| ELI the handyman |
 |
| The 4 Friends whose lives Eli changed forever |
Do you, my dear friend sometimes ask yourself the question I did that day, “Lord, do the small things that I keep doing faithfully, invisible to the world around really matter? Is anyone really seeing what I do and does what I do really count?” Have you been waiting to do big things for the Lord and have wondered why things have just not worked out? I too have been there and have learnt that when we don’t seem to have opportunities to do the so called big things in life, we need to learn to be still and to surrender to His infinite wisdom, believing that He knows what is best. We just need to be faithful and do what He has assigned us to do. The truth is nothing ever escapes His notice, not even our attitudes or the desires of our hearts! Nothing we do in His name will ever go waste. All our small deeds faithfully done are investments in the Kingdom of God. They are like seeds that are planted in the ground. Even though for sometime nothing appears to be happening, if we continue to provide the necessary water, sunlight, fertilizer etc, the plant will definitely blossom and then bear fruit in season.
Are you a home-maker who doesn’t have a fat paycheck to show at the end of a month? Are you the sweeper who everyone takes for granted? Or are you the clerk in the office made to do all the work while the credit always goes to someone else? If you are, this quote by Martin Luther King Jr is the perfect one for you:“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” Whoever you are and whatever you are called to do, hang in there….Just be faithful. As Col 3:17 :”Whatever be your task, work at it heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive your real inheritance which is from the Lord.”
God expects us to make good use of that which He has given us. Like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, we should be faithful stewards of what He has entrusted us with. When He sees that we have been faithful in the smallest of our duties, He will give us bigger responsibilities. Just like there are many members in one body and no member is more important than the other, we are all parts of the same body (Church) and Christ is the Head. Hence, we need not compare ourselves with anyone else, for we are all made different and have specific roles to play. We should never despise our own or someone else's good actions eventhough they may appear small or insignificant."Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."- Leo Buscaglia
God expects us to make good use of that which He has given us. Like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, we should be faithful stewards of what He has entrusted us with. When He sees that we have been faithful in the smallest of our duties, He will give us bigger responsibilities. Just like there are many members in one body and no member is more important than the other, we are all parts of the same body (Church) and Christ is the Head. Hence, we need not compare ourselves with anyone else, for we are all made different and have specific roles to play. We should never despise our own or someone else's good actions eventhough they may appear small or insignificant."Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."- Leo Buscaglia
Just like the little boy who gave his little lunch box of five loaves and two fish to Jesus who blessed it and fed the multitude, we should also be faithful with what God has given us and where He has placed us. Let us do the little things in our life in the best way we can for His glory and in His name and when we do so, we will watch how He turns them into great things!Let me leave you with this beautiful poem which reminds us that we just need to be the best that we can be!
BE THE BEST
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley . . . but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush, be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can't be a muskie, then just be a bass . . .
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can't all be captains; we've got to be crew.
There's something for all of us here,
There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do,
And the task you must do is near.
If you can't be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun, be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail . . .
Be a scrub in the valley . . . but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush, be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can't be a muskie, then just be a bass . . .
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can't all be captains; we've got to be crew.
There's something for all of us here,
There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do,
And the task you must do is near.
If you can't be a highway, then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun, be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail . . .
Be the best of whatever you are!
-by Douglas Malloch
Have a blessed week!
Take care,God bless,
Sparky laurie
All Rights Reserved ©Copyright Protected
