Small with consistency is worth more than you know

Mother Teresa once said, "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." I think we may just wait around, hoping that someday we will be able to make a "big impact" in this world, like some super-star we might idolize or regard with esteem. What a shame to waste all the little things we can offer to this world - which when wrapped all together probably matter as much (if not more) than the big thing that super-star is known for accomplishing! Sure, we might need a "qualifying period" in which we actually develop whatever it is God has in mind for us to do, but we don't have to spin our wheels while we are reaching that point! We can be of service today - in even the smallest of ways - just by being obedient to the urges God places in your heart.

Live in true devotion to one another, loving each other as sisters and brothers. Be first to honor others by putting them first. Do not slack in your faithfulness and hard work. Let your spirit be on fire, bubbling up and boiling over, as you serve the Lord. Do not forget to rejoice, for hope is always just around the corner. Hold up through the hard times that are coming, and devote yourselves to prayer. Share what you have with the saints, so they lack nothing; take every opportunity to open your life and home to others. (Romans 12:10-13 VOICE)

When our spirit is on fire, there is sure to be more than just smoke!  Smoke is evidence of fire - but get closer to the fire and you will feel the heat!  Fire is to burn within each of us, as something which affects the lives of those around us.  If we don't tend a fire, what happens to it?  It eventually dwindles, becoming less and less warm, until it is just nothing more than tell-tale ashes of what was once there.  Goodness, I hope none of us will ever end up that way!  What God has ignited within each of us is meant to become a blazing fire, affecting those around us with the "heat" of his love, the "comfort" of his grace, and the "rest" of his peace.  

If you have spent time in front of the fireplace, you will likely have experienced the peacefulness of just being by that fire. There is something about the richness of its warmth, the glow of the licking flames, and the twinkling of embers drifting up into the air in their wistful way that just mesmerizes you until you become "at peace" just sitting there.  God's presence in the lives of those in service to him become sources of his peace - as though the fire which burns within just beckons those in need of its soothing to sit for a while and just "take in" the peacefulness of Christ.  Peace isn't meant to be enjoyed alone - it is meant to be shared with those who lack the ability to find it on their own!  In days gone by, one home would share the embers from their own burning fire to ignite the fire in their neighbor's home.  Fire was kindled by one - but never hoarded!

We may not be prepared for the "big thing" we think God wants us to do, but "right now" we CAN be of service to him through the "little things" we can be faithful in today.  Service isn't the "big things" - it is the consistency of the little things done with obedience, love, generosity, and faithfulness.  It is the "making of one's self available" - even when we may not "feel" fully ready for the thing he asks us to do.  If we waited until we felt "ready", most of us would never move! Readiness is an attitude of heart and spirit - not necessarily talent, skill, or training.  I wanted to be a nurse since I was twelve years old.  Yes, I needed the training to be a nurse - but I could be of service to those with physical need long before I actually received my diploma and license declaring me to be a "nurse"!  Service doesn't always require a "degree" - it simply requires our availability.

Small things with great love equate to more than some of the biggest things ever will!  Just be faithful to do what God prompts in your life and you might find yourself realizing great things have been done when you look back over your years on this earth!  Maybe not "billboard worthy", but God took notice of each deed and he recorded each one in the story of our lives!  Just sayin!

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