Some days, I find that the things I do seem very, very hard. Other days, the tasks slip by almost unnoticed in their ease.
Today is one of the more difficult days. I’ve been asked to include a new physical task that is so small, it doesn’t bear mentioning. For me, however, it has turned into a very painful task, indeed. One that I will have to postpone for a while during which time I will work at an even more humble task in order to prepare for it in the future.
However, I know that in order to move forward, I have to go through the smaller tasks that are so hard to do. In getting ready for it and then used to it, I will be then be ready for greater tasks in the future. It’s kind of like a baby learning to crawl before they walk. The baby needs that learning phase that may never be of great use to them in the future. They do this in order to progress to the walking that will, for most, make up the rest of their lives.
So, I am busy learning to do really small tasks in order to do a bigger one later. The latter task is one that I look forward to and hope for and wish I could do now.
That’s kind of how our walk with Christ can begin. We want to do great things for him. However, when we are asked to do the small things, we often decide that we won’t do the small things at all. They are too simple and not the grandiose things that we had in our mind.
By our neglecting the small things, we will never be asked to do the larger things for God. He needs to see that we are mature and ready before being led in those directions.
That isn’t always the case. There are some few who God calls on for huge tasks right from the beginning. There are some who are even asked to give their lives. You can’t be given a greater tasks than that, can you?
Most of us don’t think in terms of dying for Christ. We may say that and think that and sing that loudly at church. But really? How many have given great thought to dying for God? Dying in ways possibly too painful to think of. The day may be coming when that is exactly what followers of Christ will be expected to do on an on-going basis.
Here in the United States, we Christians suffer some forms of persecution but in some parts of the world, there are Christians who are, quite literally, dying because of their faith. They are asked to give it up, to renounce it, to express no faith in God or to accept another religion. There are some who will fall and do what society expects rather than pay the ultimate price for believing in Jesus Christ.
There are those, however, who stay strong and true. God is working with them and through them. He strengthens them and allows them to see beyond the circumstance they are in to see the eternity they will have with God.
I hope that if and when we are confronted with a choice to letting God go or being strong and standing up for Jesus Christ, that we will all make the right and eternal decision. Denying God has consequences and I truly hope that we don’t have to suffer those. Of course, standing up for God also has consequences in the here and now. Today is fleeting and it will pass in the blink of an eye. Eternity is forever and ever. I want to spend eternity with God. I hope you do, too.
So, in the meantime, when God puts it on your heart to do something small, be glad. He is getting you ready for something larger. It’s like learning to walk again one step at a time. You need to learn to walk so that you can climb mountains later.
It may be your mountain to climb is during this life or it may be that your mountain is during our eternity with God. Remember God wants you to do as he asks no matter how large or small it is. He doesn’t measure the task but rather the willingness with which you are willing to do work for him. He is looking for your heart and not for the greatness of your deeds.
Colossians 3:23-25
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.