Lord of the Little Things

A friend gifted me a whole Bible’s worth of flannel figures so that I could use them to tell Bible stories.

I am an old-fashioned Sunday School lady, and I love my flannel board. It is a Gospel tool that no screen will ever replace.

As I was going through the billions of flannel figures, I noticed a whole file of “miscellaneous.” There, I found cut-outs of Aaron’s budding staff, the cherubim’s flaming sword, the woman’s alabaster jar, the ropes that hauled Jeremiah out of the cistern, and Peter’s fish with the coin still in its mouth.

The Bible is full of stories of the big things: life and death, hunger and thirst, good and evil, but it also has so many details about the little things.

This week, as I pondered how to help some of my Sunday School students who are homeless, how to pray for a church family in crisis, and what to do for a young girl who recently lost her mother, a problem arose with my children not being eligible to play with their sports teams. 

I feel like we generally keep our extracurricular activities in perspective. We know that sports, clubs, and the extras are just the little things, but this week, the paperwork, the questions, and the disappointment became big.

At first, I chastised myself for worrying about sports when there are children in my community who are homeless. There are people dying of preventable diseases. There are babies being aborted. 

Then, a wise friend texted me Psalm 63: “Oh God, you are my God; earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You…” No matter if the issue is little or big, the Lord is our God who shows steadfast love and hides us in the shadow of His wings.

Like the wandering Israelites, I had allowed my focus to stray to the size of people of the land instead of keeping it fixed on Jesus, my Savior. 

The Lord God rules over all things. One day, all things will be put under His feet. One day, sports teams, homelessness, and crises will no longer matter because Jesus reigns over all.

He cares about the little things as well as the big- the lambs, the flowers, the staffs, the ropes, the jars, the coins, the fish, and the swords will have played their part alongside the prophets, apostles, kings, angels, and priests. 

While writing this article, my young son brought a kitten, a stick, and a scratched knee for my inspection. I don’t send him away because these are little, insignificant things. I stop. I examine. I discuss. Because the little things matter to him, they matter to me because I love him.

Our Father wants to hear about all our cares- little and big. He is Lord of the Little things in addition to being God Almighty over all, and He loves us deeply.