For who has despised the days of small things? (Zech. 4:10)
As I have been reading through the Bible there has been this theme that always sticks out to me. It is a theme of God using the least likely people to do impossible tasks. Often times I ask the Lord a question that has been asked of Him for thousands of years.... “What can I do for YOU? I am nothing great!” Well God uses the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and He uses the weak things of this world to put to shame the things that are strong.”
I always thought that it was interesting that the women that were greatly spoken of in the Bible for bearing a child that would greatly impact Gods chosen people that the women were often Barren. So many of these women had trouble having children and God honored them in their older age. (Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Manoah's wife (Samson's mom) and Elisabeth. All of these women were chosen of the Lord to bear something special but they were tried in their faith first. The Lord used these women who were talked about as if they had done something wrong and these women were the mothers of great nations, a mother of a Judge and the mother of John the Baptist. All of these women had their times of wilderness, times when they asked God “Have you forgotten me?” These were their days of small things but Great things came out of them.
Look at Gideon- He was a Humble man that had doubts just like we do. He was the one that threw a fleece before the Lord to see if God really was speaking to him. He not only did that once but two nights in a row. Gideon's reply to the Angel of the Lord when He was called to save his people was “O my Lord, How can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” Such Humility. God can use a man or woman with a response like that because it gives room for the Glory of God to be revealed through that man or woman. He was going to be the one to lead the Army of Israel into victory against the Mideonites. When Gideon was called to do this he was threshing wheat in a winepress; that doesn't qualify Him to lead an army into a heavy battle of which they would be greatly outnumbered.
Jdg 7:2 “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.” God wants the glory for the work that He is going to do through us. God needs a man that Will bring Glory to HIM and not to Himself. That day God used 300 men to take out an army that was compared to the sand of the seashore. Israel and the surrounding nations knew that day that it was God that had won the battle for them. There was no way to take glory for themselves, they were to few.
We all know the story of David and Goliath. David was the least of His household. His father didn't even think of Him when Samuel came to his fathers house looking for the man that would be Gods chosen king. He was forgotten, he was the one in the field with the sheep. David fought not to make a name for Himself but was disgusted with how Goliath defied the Name of God. David wanted to bring honor to the name of God and won the battle. God could use this little David because there was room for His glory to shine.
I also think of Elisha and His servant (2 Kings 6)
2Ki 6:15-17
(15)And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? (16) And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. (17) And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
I love the Way that Elisha spoke with such faith to his servant. “Fear not: for there are more with Us than with them”. Elisha could not see the hosts of heaven when He said that. He knew His God and He knew that they were there. They were not visible, Elisha had to pray that his servants eyes would be opened. All his servant could see were the armies of the Syrians that wanted them. His eyes were opened to The hosts of heaven. I just think it is so neat, Elisha had to know the Lord really well before this happened to be able to say that in the midst of such a scary situation where there was no way out. God was the one that blinded the Syrians so that they could not touch them. God was given glory.
Then I think of Daniel, He was a man that was righteous in all of His ways. He served the Lord till He died. In the Beginning of the book you see Daniel purposing in His heart that He is not going to defile himself with the great foods and things of the King. Can you imagine how it would be to stand before a king and gracefully refuse all of the amazing foods that he is offering you? That is a bold thing to do in the first place and then He went on to say... “test us, watch and see if we do not look healthier than all the others”. He knew that his God would honor His decision to stay Holy and blameless. God would take care of Him.
Later on in the story in Daniel 6 Daniel was set apart, he was distinguished because people could tell he had an “excellent Spirit in him”. People could see the blessing and favor of the Lord in His life. The other governors were mad because the King was going to put the whole kingdom in Daniels charge so they were looking for something bad in Daniel but could not find a thing. They determined that they would find nothing unless it concerned his God. They knew that He prayed 3 times a day, they knew that He honored and obeyed God first in his life. They knew that He has a great prayer life so that was where they were going to attack him and they did.
The thing that I want to point out in all of this is not that Daniel was a great man but the fact that God molded and shaped this man in the days of small things. Daniel did not just wake up in Babylon this giant man. I believe that His prayer life carried over from those days when it was just him and the Lord. He knew his God, he knew the heart of His God and you can see it in all that he says.
It is in those days of small things that God prepares you to stand before Kings and speak the name of Jesus Christ, to set yourself apart from the practices of the world. Do not despise the days of small things. Each hardship, each victory, each battle and each time of wilderness is molding you into the person that God wants you to be. All of those things are forming you into Gods image. All of those things will not be wasted God will use them later in someone else's life to encourage them. Treasure those times of character building and go along with the ride; worship God the whole way through.
I am so thankful for all the stories of God working with little people, of God reaching down to work in the life of man. I am so thankful that Jesus came to earth as a man so that He could relate to us. I am so thankful for the blood that was spilled so that I could be white as snow. So that one day I will be in Heaven with Him, looking into His eyes and seeing the Love that died for me. Thank you Jesus for all of these reminders. Thank you for buying me back from my sin and thank you that I can have a deep, personal relationship with you. I treasure my time with the Lord; you know there really are times that I have to say “I don't want to read right now but I will do it anyway” or “I cant lift my hands but my heart will forever worship you.” He is worthy of everything that we can give HIM!
