Dear Ones:
In our culture of great possibilities, and because of our western mentality, not to mention the media that we are exposed to, we are apt to believe that life is composed of only great things. And yet, the Lord, with reference to the building of the temple, would say to Zechariah, “..for who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zech. 4:10) Life is composed of a multitude of “small things,” and often the small thing, by the mercy and blessing of God, becomes something great. The beginning of Gospel Recordings, if I remember right, began in a hospital bed, where its founder who was very ill, had an idea, an idea that openeblessing. So, let us not despisethe day of small beginnings, small things.
In 1937, a young missionary lay in a hospital bed, having been forced by her health to leave those she was ministering to in Honduras. It was a very low point, as she wished she had some way of leaving behind her a means by which “her people” could hear over and over the gospel message in their own tongue. Out of this moment of helplessness was born an idea…it would later be called a “card talk.” It was a most inexpensive way to put on a small disc the gospel message, and then to use a cardboard apparatus as a receiver/amplifier, so that the message on the disc could be heard clearly. The energy to make it work came from someone’s hand, using a pencil, to turn the disc. The result was, not only countless blessing for those of Honduras, but now, for millions throughout the world, whose dialects have been captured to put the gospel on those discs. We must not despise the day of small things.
Perhaps the most demonstrable fact of this was the birth of the Lord Jesus. If ever there was a “small” an “insignificant” beginning, it was His birth. Who would have thought this child would have such an eternal impact on the world? And so, let us not be unmindful of small things…for often it is in those that the glory of God is revealed.
There are times when we long for the Lord to reveal Himself to us in a most specific manner, in particular, through His word. We have already seen that in 1 Samuel 3:21, that “…the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” A small word, a short word, or longer…it may seem like a little thing, but when the Spirit of God takes the word of God, and specifically addresses it to our hearts, there is Life. And it is as the soul takes hold of that word, that Christ becomes real to the heart. But there are other ways that the Lord Jesus reveals His faithfulness to us, and that is through circumstances. Though these are not “Divinely inspired” as the word of God, they are none-the-less meant to encourage us, and to make us know that He IS faithful, and IS with us.
So, today, let us remember that from a small idea (God’s idea), great blessing can come as in the cas of Gospel Recordings. But let us also remember, that the God of great things is also the God of the small.. And let us be forever thankful that He has not left us alone, but is faithful and good.
Love, Dad