4 minute read
When my sister was in college, she was walking through a grocery store and dropped a penny. She didn’t think much of it and kept walking. A moment later she heard an old man’s voice from behind her. “Oh, miss…”
My sister turned around.
An elderly gentleman was holding his hand out with the penny in his palm. He was handing the penny back to my sister. As she took it, the old man said—
“A hundred of those make a dollar!”
The old man said it with a look of delight and amazement on his face. As if to say, “Can you believe this?! A hundred of those little copper circles and you’ve got yourself something valuable! Now, ain’t that somethin’?”
That sentiment was coupled with a mildly corrective posture, too. The old man was also saying, in effect, “Don’t overlook the value of something small.”
I say, the old man was speaking Scripture to my sister, whether he knew it or not.
*****
Back in the Old Testament, God’s chosen people—the Israelites—had fallen on hard times. Jerusalem, their capitol city, was in shambles and the temple—the center of their lives, the place they worshipped God—had been destroyed. All was a mess.
But God wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.
So He raised up people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city and rebuild the wall surrounding it and rebuild the temple.
This was a big deal for the Israelites. The one thing they wanted more than anything else—restoration—was going to happen. They were thrilled.
But God knew what was in the heart of humans. He knew that, yes, every one of them would want the final outcome—life! restoration! blessing! happiness! respect!—but not every one of them would want to contribute what it took to bring this about along the way.
Through His prophet (which just means “human who hears God and communicates what He’s saying to other humans”) Zechariah, he said the following—
Who despises the day of small things?
(That’s Zechariah 4:10.)
That may seem like an odd little verse, but it’s important to me and to my family. It’s so important, it’s printed out and hangs right next to our kitchen table where we eat almost every meal.
By asking, “Who despises the day of small things?” God was, in effect, saying, “Which of you would dare want an end result, but not want to participate in doing the small, seemingly insignificant things along the way that would bring about the grand and glorious thing you want? Which of you wants the big giant temple all finished… but would think it too insignificant to place a single brick? Which of you would despise—look down on—the day-to-day small things?”
Or, put another way, “Who would overlook the importance of a penny?”
*****
My book, I Am a Field, came out yesterday. (Quick note: if you’re sick of hearing about my book, how much more do you think I’m sick of talking about it? Trust me… I’m with you.) That book took a long time to write. All along the way I kept thinking about the title of my favorite book about writing, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird. She titled her writing book Bird by Bird because the process of writing reminded her of something her brother, a painter, was asked how he was going to finish a work he was doing that was full of hundreds of geese. “I guess I’ll paint it bird by bird,” he said.
How do you write a book? In one fell swoop? Nope. You write it word by word.
And this is how almost every good thing God wants to accomplish in you happens… little by little… bit by bit… bird by bird… penny by penny.
*****
What is God wanting to grow inside of you? Or, maybe put another way, what are you wanting God to grow in you? What good thing are you hoping for, waiting for, excited for? Less anxiety? A better marriage? Wisdom? Perseverance? Courage? A skill that will help you bless others?
Now… what’s the one small thing God would want you to do today that would help bring that about?
Maybe if you’re wanting less anxiety, it’s spending a full minute in the midst of a busy, hectic, stressful day… sitting quietly.
Maybe if you want a better marriage, it’s overlooking something small your spouse has done that drives you nuts.
Maybe if you want wisdom, you hear someone wise say something helpful and prudent and you jot it down and spend five minutes… slowly… just… thinking about it.
Maybe if you want perseverance, you just push yourself one minute farther than you may have worked at something normally.
Maybe if you want courage, you challenge yourself to do one small thing that will help you face a fear. Not big, small.
Maybe if it’s a skill to bless others, you practice it one time. Just one time.
These may seem like little, tiny things… but in God’s economy, small adds up to big.
We have to trust that.
And believe He does something good with the small things we bring Him.
We have to believe in the importance of every, single penny.