If all goes well, as you read this, I should be competing in the second of three days of our club championship.
The defending champion has graciously given the rest of us a wee window of opportunity. She has a broken toe and deeply embedded sliver in one foot and is covered in poison oak. It’s not much of a window and I doubt these will slow her down at all, but we’re grateful for her efforts on our behalf.
However, the past few months have reminded me of a very important golf (and spiritual) mantra: Drive for show; putt for dough.
Yes, it’s the short game, not the long showy drives that matter most. Too many times I, and others, have been on the green, only to three-putt a par away.
I was listening to a three-minute inspirational golf message, and the narrator related how Ed, now 92 and losing distance (a by-product of aging), started concentrating on his short game—his chipping and putting—and shot a 72.
Similarly, sometimes in our spiritual walk, we believe it’s the big things that are most important: the grandeur of our sanctuary and the size of the parking lot; the elaborateness of the Christmas pageant. The number of people who attend a church or the length and breadth of a prayer. We sometimes feel that these big things demonstrate God’s presence and blessing.
And it may be true, but it could also be deceiving.
To my knowledge, rarely in the bible does God glorify big things, but instead the small, humble things. His own Son was born in a stable in a manger in a small town.
To God, all things matter, and He uses these small things to accomplish much greater things:
A little boy’s lunch
Faith the size of a mustard seed—one of the smallest seeds on earth.
The widow’s last two coins.
Sparrows and the hairs on our head.
Even Zacchaeus was little.
But each of these “little” people, things, sacrifices, God used in big ways to demonstrate His character.
God’s compassion and ability to meet our every need
Trust—even the smallest amount—will continue to grow as we find God ever-faithful
True sacrifice—from the heart—is most dear to God
God sees, knows, and loves us no matter who we are.
God can change lives—radically.
Though we all would like to do big things for God, it really is the small things given from a sincere heart that are most important. So as we go through this coming week, remember the importance of small things — on all fronts. The small act of kindness or the kind word. The few verses you were able to read and the small prayer you made on someone’s behalf.
Our small sacrifices, actions, words are all God needs to do great things. After all, He made everything out of nothing at all.
The defending champion has graciously given the rest of us a wee window of opportunity. She has a broken toe and deeply embedded sliver in one foot and is covered in poison oak. It’s not much of a window and I doubt these will slow her down at all, but we’re grateful for her efforts on our behalf.
However, the past few months have reminded me of a very important golf (and spiritual) mantra: Drive for show; putt for dough.
Yes, it’s the short game, not the long showy drives that matter most. Too many times I, and others, have been on the green, only to three-putt a par away.
I was listening to a three-minute inspirational golf message, and the narrator related how Ed, now 92 and losing distance (a by-product of aging), started concentrating on his short game—his chipping and putting—and shot a 72.
Similarly, sometimes in our spiritual walk, we believe it’s the big things that are most important: the grandeur of our sanctuary and the size of the parking lot; the elaborateness of the Christmas pageant. The number of people who attend a church or the length and breadth of a prayer. We sometimes feel that these big things demonstrate God’s presence and blessing.
And it may be true, but it could also be deceiving.
To my knowledge, rarely in the bible does God glorify big things, but instead the small, humble things. His own Son was born in a stable in a manger in a small town.
To God, all things matter, and He uses these small things to accomplish much greater things:
A little boy’s lunch
Faith the size of a mustard seed—one of the smallest seeds on earth.
The widow’s last two coins.
Sparrows and the hairs on our head.
Even Zacchaeus was little.
But each of these “little” people, things, sacrifices, God used in big ways to demonstrate His character.
God’s compassion and ability to meet our every need
Trust—even the smallest amount—will continue to grow as we find God ever-faithful
True sacrifice—from the heart—is most dear to God
God sees, knows, and loves us no matter who we are.
God can change lives—radically.
Though we all would like to do big things for God, it really is the small things given from a sincere heart that are most important. So as we go through this coming week, remember the importance of small things — on all fronts. The small act of kindness or the kind word. The few verses you were able to read and the small prayer you made on someone’s behalf.
Our small sacrifices, actions, words are all God needs to do great things. After all, He made everything out of nothing at all.
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