Little Things, Big Things

“I can’t find my pink socks!”  

“I want Rabbit!”

“I don’t want to sit in the middle!”

If you’re a parent, I guessing you have, on occasion, been frustrated by such phrases. Perhaps when you’re

• leaving home on vacation… 
• or late for church…
• or just trying to go to the grocery store with two preschoolers… 
• or going to the park…
• or grandma’s house.

You have a goal in mind. You have someplace to be. You are trying to do something or go somewhere important, and the little ones around you had no concept of the “big picture”. Sometimes it seems their entire world, their horizon, is within the reach of their little hands. Those socks you put on them against their will have the gravity of a nuclear arms race.

Frustrating isn't it? It’s especially when the “Big Thing” you are trying to do is for their benefit or enjoyment. We are beyond the toddler and preschool years in my house now, but not that long ago I was there, and the phrase “little things, big things” was coined in my family.

After a little explanation, my kids came to understand what “little things, big things” meant. It was a simple way of saying,

 “We are trying to do something you will like, but you are getting hung up on little things that really don’t matter. Leave it. Forget it. Get over it.  Let’s go do the ‘Big Thing.’”  

It worked. They got it.  They have learned, for the most part, to sidestep the minutia and keep their eyes on the big picture, much to my relief.

The whole concept of “Little Things, Big Things” makes me wonder if our Heavenly Father sometimes has the same frustration with us. Certainly we can find such frustration in the Bible. In Numbers 13 and 14 we find God quite frustrated with Israel. He has led them to the threshold of the Promised Land. He has already began the process of giving the land to them (13:1).

Victory was within reach…and they choked.

They look past God to see the bounty of the land.
Then they look past the bounty of the land and saw the obstacle:

Big, fortified cities filled with big strong people with scary names:

• Sons of Anak
• Amalekites,
• Hittites,
• Jebusites, 
• Amorites,
• and Canaanites.

Now, impenetrable fortresses filled with corn-fed Canaanites could look scary  to be sure, but only because they lost sight of  “The Big Thing”. They forgot to look up. Had they looked to God, what seem like a “big thing” would have become a “little thing”. They forgot about God’s promise. They forgot about his gift to them. Above them was a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. They had seen God part the Red Sea with a wind. They had seen an entire Egyptian army stand back in fear of the fire of God. They had seen the plagues that struck Egypt and the work of the death angel. They had seen the glory of God and heard his voice at Sinai. Then, standing at the threshold of promise, they choked.

To bring this a little closer to home now, I wonder how often God is at work in each of our lives and in our churches. He has a plan to lead us into a land of promise, a land of peace, and we get hung up on the details. We lose sight of God's big picture for us. Rather than allowing God to bring us to a place of victory we get hung up in an endless cycle of "wilderness wandering" just like the children of Israel.

So, let me encourage you, friend, figure out what is hindering you in your walk with the Lord. Jesus wants you to live life in a place of spiritual victory, not defeat. The magnitude of your biggest obstacle is diminished if you look at the greatness of your Savior. Look to Jesus, and follow his leading. He will take you to "Big Things."

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." [Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV]

Kids? Now? Say it ain't so...

Mark 10:14  But when Jesus saw [it], he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Face it. Kids can be miserable little buggers at times. Not because they are bad, but just because they are kids. The fact is, bringing kids to Christ can sometimes involve a little suffering, a little inconvenience, on our part.

Here in this account in Mark’s Gospel, the disciples had enjoyed basking in the reflected glow of a great Teacher all day, and now, finally, they had there time to talk to Jesus. Suddenly they found themselves baby-sitting the primary class.

Have you ever noticed how easy it is for us to get “too big for our britches”? Too self-important? Jesus had to remind them of the true nature of the Kingdom and the importance of simple faith.

These children were not brought by theologians looking to have them filled with great teaching, they were brought by parents seeking Jesus’ touch on their little ones. Remarkably, the disciples rebuked them for this!

If Jesus ever gave his disciples the stink-eye, I expect this was the time, for he was “much displeased”.

I realize ministering to kids can be exhausting. I know sometimes it seems like no matter what you do, they don’t hear a word you say. There are times we’d much rather be involved in adult conversation than cleaning the crayon scribbles off of the short tables.

Here’s the thing. To follow Jesus example doesn’t mean we have to carry around a Sunday School lesson in our pocket all of the time. It does mean, however, that we are ever ready to touch their hearts with his love. God has a special place in his heart for children. A kind word, a hug, and a little bragging can do more to cement a kid into the Kingdom of God that a dozen Sunday School lessons.

The greatest blessings God ever bestowed on anyone in the Bible was children:

-God’s promise to Eve about redemption involved a child.
-God’s blessing on Abram was all about a miracle child.
-In dozens (if not hundreds) of places in the Bible that God is pronouncing blessing on someone, that blessing involves children!
-God so values children (who are by nature weak) that to oppress the fatherless insures the swift wrath of God.

The disciples had appointed themselves the “gate keepers” for Jesus. Jesus had had to spend a good deal of time that day dealing with Pharisees. Now either:
1. they didn’t have the guts to turn the Pharisees away, or
2. they enjoyed watching Jesus “smoke” them in argument.

At the end of the day their attempt was to keep these children at bay, because they found the timing inconvenient, but guess what.  The Lord has little concern for our convenience. 

In the armies of this world, Generals do not ask enlisted men if action is convenient for them. They give orders, and orders are carried out. For Jesus the cross was not convenient, but he set aside his will to do the will of the Father.

So yes, the kids you teach on Sunday, the pint sized menaces next door, and the kids you love dearly all have one thing in common. They need to experience the touch of Jesus in their lives, for he loves them dearly.

Will you lead them to him?