The Little Things

Hello dear readers! I'm writing with Ally from Books Are Diamonds! Ally's been one of my closest friends for so many years. Yesterday we were talking about the little things in life and had some similar thoughts. We're sharing those with you today!

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Faithfulness in the Little Things

Ally

“You don’t have to walk on water; it’s how you walk on land.” (Walk on Water by Jason Crabb)

And it made me think, so many times I’m looking for the big moments, the big miracles where God is going to do amazing things and I’m going to feel Him move. Or have the chance to do something amazing and maybe scary for God, but I put my faith in Him and do it. 

And while those things do happen, that’s not how it works usually. 

Usually it’s getting up everyday and living life. Making small sometimes big choices. Will I spend time with God today? Will I do what’s right? How will I spend my time? What am I going to eat today? 

That’s the majority of life. Living our life on the land, not walking the waves. 

And yet, sometimes I feel like that’s so empty, like it’s just a small thing. 

But if you look at Peter, he only walked on the water once. Not every day, not every month, not even every year. 

And that doesn’t mean he didn’t have other big moments, Jesus helped them catch all the fish, He healed Peter’s mother-in-law, he witnessed so many people healed and miracles happen. 

But he never witnessed the exact same thing twice. And most of the time? Peter’s duty was following Jesus. Not denying Him. Learning from Him. Witnessing for Him. Loving Him. Praying with Him. Serving for and with Him. Most of his time with Jesus was spent on the land, not on the water. 

So my time in the small moments count just as much. And they’re going to take up most of the majority of the time.

It’s not how you walk on water, and honestly that’s usually easier. But it’s how you walk on land. Staying faithful.

Seeing the Little Things

Carine

How many of us truly see the small things in life? 

The little things that bring smiles to so many faces. The occurrences that appear so briefly, it’s a wonder anyone saw them at all. The everyday happenings that are commonly overlooked as “normal.” 

Yes, we notice them. But do we appreciate them?

Recently, it’s been on my heart to remember those little things. They are never something that should be taken for granted.

We often look for God's blessings to be big and vibrant and one of those things that shout “this is clearly from God!!” And in looking for those moments, we toss aside the small blessings that are just as much from Him as the huge ones.

Just like how Ally mentioned, the big moments are good and beautiful, whether they're opportunities to serve Him or blessings from Him. But they're not everyday occurrences. The little blessings are the ones He gives us all the time. Things like a pretty flower, or a rainbow, or a smile from a friend. Those are all blessings from God meant to show us how much He adores us.

A love note written in His creation for His children.

 But we miss these precious notes by blindly looking past them and asking God for something bigger or in our mind something “better.” We hope it's delivered with glitter and fanfare and a sign that says "From God, for My child!" instead of being softly slid towards us, adorned in humble wrappings.

That leaves the question... Why do we expect something huge all the time?

Our love from our parents isn’t proved by them doing huge things constantly. We enjoy when they give us expensive presents or take us somewhere special or go out of their way to surprise us, but that's not how their love is proved.

Rather it’s the daily faithfulness of their presence and sacrifice that shows us how they love us. The early morning hours, the carefully packed lunches, the sleepless nights when we need to talk to them. The way they work tirelessly to provide for us, their endless wisdom, the thoughtful note left in our rooms. Their love is proved by the little things they consistently do for us.

So why do we expect some impressively huge blessing from our Heavenly Father to show us His love? Instead we should be focusing on the little blessings and thanking Him for those. And when He does send us a big blessing, praise Him all the more for it.

Either way, blessings are always a love note from God.