Little things excite me. Really. Tiny, seemingly insignificant nuggets of life are what I love the most! I don't wait for big things to happen to say, "Ah yes - see? There is a God!" And this is the attitude I hope my kids are picking up on.
I think God is shortchanged so much by us humans. I mean, seriously. I wonder sometimes if he's sitting up there next to Jesus, rolling his eyes at how conceited we are down here on earth. We think we are in control of so much.
And this one drives me crazy. When a huge disaster happens - Hurricane Katrina, Midwest flooding, typhoons, tsunamis - I always read somewhere some writer pontificating on how it must be God punishing us for this or that. Why don't I ever read the same writer, on a daily basis, talking about how God must be behind the Dow closing at an all-time high, scientists finding the gene that is responsible for a deadly disease, or the awesome afternoon he had with his kids last weekend?
On the other side of all of that is the fact that I also believe that it's the little things that matter when I'm dealing with others. I try to think of the little things - well, I don't really try, it's actually just how I'm wired. I actually enjoy talking to cashiers about how their day is going because I imagine that a good portion of the last 15 people who went through their line were probably grumbly or perhaps barely even acknowledged his/her existence. That's unfortunate.
Where am I going with all of this anyway? I have no idea - I just had to get that off my chest.
I guess - just please stop and let the little things have an impact on your attitude. And take a different perspective the next time something tiny makes your day and acknowledge who's really behind it.
Wise counsel H, and something we need to have repeated over and over. We so easily lose sight of the beauty of God's work behind all the mundane and ordinary stuff that makes up our day. The following is from a book I started reading yesterday, titled "A Quest For More: Living for something bigger than you" by Paul Tripp.
ReplyDelete"In a fallen world there is a powerful pressure to constrict your life to the shape and size of your life. There is a compelling tendency to forget who you are and what you were made for. There is a tendency to be short-sighted, myopic, and easily distracted. There is a tendency to settle for less when you have been created for more. . . . [This book] is about a way of living where God has placed me that embraces the transcendent glories for which I was created. It is about living for a greater kingdom than the kingdom of my life, my family, and my job. And where do I live for this greater kingdom? In my life, in my family, and in my job! This book was not written to call you to stop doing everything you have been doing or to start doing a bunch of new things. Rather, it is a call to do what God has called you to do with a vision that is as broad and deep as the glory of God."
One more comment from Tripp's book that reinforces your perspective of seeing the big thing (God and his ongoing work) behind the little things of life, and not settling for just witnessing the little things.
ReplyDelete"The normal day is a 24-hour collection of little moments. Day after day, week after week, and year after year, these little moments set the character of a person's life. When little things become the big thing for which I consistently fight, I have forsaken transcendence for the temporary shadow glories of creation."