“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:” 1 Peter 5:6
In a world ever focused on big things, big goals, big dreams, big resumes, big jobs, big promotions, big money, big accomplishments, big achievements, big awards, big bragging, big validation, big egos, big pride, big aspirations, etc., it can be easy to fall into the mentality we can’t possibly serve God, or do anything significant in serving Him, can never measure up to doing what that person over there is doing to serve God, can’t possibly be qualified enough, experienced enough, smart enough etc. to be useful to God, etc. The list can go on and on when it comes to the reasons we may believe anything we can possibly do for God is simply too little to be of value and significance in His eyes or in anyone’s else’s.
First things first. Serving God is not about others serving God and about how our service work compares to someone else’s. Serving God is about serving God. Second, it’s not about how “little” or how “big” our service work is for Him. It’s about obedience to God regarding anything He gives us to do, regardless of how what He gives us to do might compare to someone else’s service to God or how anyone else might think of what He’s called us to do. It’s not about doing “big” things for God. It’s about humbling ourselves and as servants serving Him. It’s not about being praised by God or by others for what we do for Him. It’s about loving and magnifying Him in whatever He gives us to do. And it’s about what God can and will do through us when we yield our hearts, lives – and service – to Him. Serving Him isn’t about glorifying us; it’s about glorifying Him.
One day I realized I had an exceeding need. The Lord had opened the door to a large number of my tracts and devotionals being sent into prisons. He had been growing my ministry work so quickly and beautifully, humbling me beyond measure at what HE was doing, that I found myself extraordinarily overwhelmed and unable to keep up with my streets ministry and writing work. A beautiful friend offered to step in and start stapling hundreds of these little booklets. She was not too proud to do such a menial task. Lovingly, mercifully, she even as she stapled them prayed for the people who would receive them. In our everything “big” world, how extraordinarily “little” was my friend’s work. I think not only of my own exceeding gratitude, and of the countless prisoners who through her work would get help in finding and following Christ, but about how the Lord in His most magnificent love must hold a place of exquisite honor for a woman who would defy the world’s “big” standards and in such a sweet, simple, “little” way serve the Lord.