No Small Thing

As a kid, growing up in South Africa in the early ’60’s, I remember hearing about everything being bigger and better in America… especially in Texas!

Then I crossed the Atlantic Ocean on board a freighter, the SS Louise Lykes, to go to Lee University and discovered it was true… especially the cars. My first car, back in SA, was an NSU Prinz. It only had two cylinders and would barely carry two people. I was picked up from the docks in Mobile, Alabama, in a 1966 Cadillac.

My Prinz could have fit in the trunk of the Cadillac.

Things were bigger and better here!

So, we live in a culture where big and grand and amazing are the order of the day. That’s what we all aim for. It’s what we want. It’s what motivates us.

Who cares about small?

God does.

And Joseph is a prime example.

After being sold into slavery by jealous brothers and then imprisoned because of the false accusations of master’s wife, you would expect Joseph to be too bitter to think about anything or anyone other than himself and the dark, damp, foul dungeon where he would spend the next few years.

But no.

Instead of years ahead to feeling sorry for himself, Joseph pours himself into caring for everything and everyone around him.

Small obediences in unseen places.

Noticing that two new inmates in the prison were troubled one morning, Joseph enquires about their well being. When he discovers they both have had disturbing dreams the night before, he seeks God for the interpretation for them.

Joseph had no idea that this single act of obedience would eventually be the door to a bigger and better opportunity for him. He was just quietly obeying in the small things.

God, help me to be like Joseph… to obey You in the seemingly small, unnoticed things. Not with an eye on bigger and better, but just because that’s what You have called me to be.