Little Things
In the kingdom of God, which is completely crossways to the kingdom of this world, things rank by the greatness of quality, and not by that of quantity. Our God proves His divinity by the attention and emphasis He puts on small things. “Who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10) “Because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.” (Luke 19:17)
There is no better way in the world to test every trait in a soul than by little things. Every Christian duty, every grace of the Spirit, every privilege of life, is being proved and made manifest to the eyes of God and angels in things so small that we seldom take thought of them. It is our unplanned, instinctive actions and words that reveal what we really are, not those large, conspicuous things for which we especially arm ourselves.
The most essential grace for a human being is humility. God delights in you and me in proportion to the depth of our humility, more than all other things combined. “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15) And this very grace of lowliness finds its appropriate home in lowly things. The sweetest things in the world—the best prayers, the poorest self-denial, the tenderest words of sympathy—by a delicate instinct of the Holy Spirit, hide themselves in little secret ways, as the ground dove hides its nest in unnoticed, lowly places on the ground. Some great sorrows and sufferings can be written out in history for the world to see, but the greater martyrs are those whose innumerable agonies in small and secluded matters are seen only by the Infinite eye. To suffer with a patient heart in things so common and small that people never think of noticing them is to glorify God in a high degree; for if we suffer in ways so concealed that no eyes but His can see it, then surely it is to please Him only. Zealots and self-made martyrs like to let their sufferings be widely known, as a dog may howl loudly over a small hurt; but a truly lowly soul will suffer more in things little and large without advertising it for human charity, as the lamb will endure a great wound in silence.
There are times and places for great events and great things—yet the very greatness and splendor of such things tends to hide God, where the creature is manifested more than the Creator. But in little things God often has an opportunity to show Himself, for there He is not stifled by so much magnitude and glitter of man. Great things are not harmful in themselves, but we are so foolish we let the greatness of things distract us from God. He is jealous of His glory, and will scarcely suffer to share it with any of us. Just in the same proportion that all human things grow in size, they lose the power of God. Great men, great learning, great sermons, great music, great assemblies, even great holiness organizations—anything great with our involvement—soon absorbs so much attention that the sensitive Holy Spirit finds Himself slighted, and quietly hunts up little people and little opportunities, where God alone can get the glory. In every age of the world, the Holy Spirit has been traveling away from big things into the small, in order to find places where God alone shall be exalted. Gideon and Saul, Solomon and Philip are but a few of the many who could teach us lessons in littleness. If we could always remain broken and contrite and little in our own eyes, God would always show Himself to us, and reveal His personal presence in the insignificant things of daily life, and the Holy Spirit would work marvelously through us in sweet and quiet ways, utterly incredible to the great and wise ones.
God alone knows when we really are little. Many will proclaim that they feel their utter nothingness, but shortly afterward cannot peacefully and lovingly endure to be contradicted, or reproved, or slighted, or slandered. What we are in the sight of God, that we are, no more and no less, regardless of what the world or saints or angels think of us, and regardless of what we think of ourselves. Yes, the Holy Spirit knows when we are little, and His abiding and wondrous revealings will continue just so long as our infantile littleness continues. The disciples were given a parable of true greatness when our Lord set a little child before them, saying, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.” (Matthew 18:4-5)
In Christ’s vineyard, there is more real holy labor in the small than in great things. Consider: in any great work one may reap human sympathy and praise, for it is a field for enthusiasm and renown, a sphere for the display of gifts and zeal, and motives to arouse the natural heart. But in a little work wrought in obscurity, all these high things are weeded out. I do not say that a great work may not be done purely for God alone, but it furnishes a field for so much of the human.
In the cramped and secluded ways of life, our God gives us a walled-in garden to sow with deeds and words and manners and looks, out of a loving, tender spirit, with no incentive but love, and no purpose but to please Him. A little work done only for God to know has in it a heavenly courage, a purity of intention, and a sweetness of love which is very difficult to put in a notable act. We can show more self-sacrifice in little things than we can in great, because the occasions are more multiplied and the temptations to small self-indulgence are not so guarded against. And yet despite all this, we should not be in scrupulous bondage to little things, for if we over-magnify little things, we put our souls in slavery, and the devil turns our flower-garden into a prison.
Little things should serve two purposes for us—to see how much of God’s guidance and presence we can find in them, and to see how much of Jesus-like love and service we can put in them. Everything on earth will rank in heaven according to how much Christ is in it.