Life is made up of little things

Life is made up of little things

1. There are the fish to feed, the letters to stamp, the socks to put away. We can understand and identify with things.

2. We make lists of things to be done or bought – one loaf of bread, one jar of honey, all separate small individual things. We look at the clock and plan the next ten minutes. It is only very, very occasionally we ask ourselves - what do I want to be doing in five years time.

3. When it comes to our spiritual life however we talk quite differently. It is not the next ten minutes but the whole of the day that must be better than yesterday. And at New Year we tend to think of very big issues indeed and plan complete life changes.

Walk before me and be thou perfect.

4. It is no wonder we carry such a burden with us. Why can we not try to live our sprirtual life in small manageable sections. To learn part of a text, to read 6 verses, to write out one promise of the Bible, to look at the next fifteen minutes. It soon all adds up.

5. Our life is lived one breath at a time, one thought at a time. We go for a walk and it is one stride at a time. But we read the Bible and we read big ideas - like becoming like Jesus, being pure, or being ready for Him to come. We go to bed one night with one of those big ideas in our minds and lots of optimism but the next morning we wake up spiritually bewildered and not knowing where to start.
What we have done is made today’s picture too big and become discouraged and ready to give up. Being perfect always begins with walking one step at a time discovering how enjoyable the experience is. Both Enoch and Noah walked with God..

6 Why not make the upward journey in very small steps too. What is the Lord showing you now that He wants of you? That is the starting place. Perhaps to be patient? Then expect God to send you something to be patient and pleasant about. And He will. And it is a shock!

But now is the time to make many little prayers – to ask first of all to recognise the test when it does come for it will not give you any warning. Ask Him to help you to grow in confidence that He will help you come through it. Pray to be like Jesus, to think of a time when He was patient, to think what He showed on his face, what did he do with His hands and shoulders when his patience was being tried?
Take tiny steps and failures will turn to victory for He always gives prompting and help for just one minute at a time, not for a whole life. Then do not forget the little ‘thank you’ prayers! And take the next step. Growing is done in very tiny increments.

Grow up into Him in all things.