Most of us want to do something significant that impacts the world. We want to accomplish something big for God. This is an awesome characteristic that God has placed in our heart. The ironic thing is many people miss their place of significance because they gloss over the mundane, apparently insignificant opportunities God sets before them.
Look at Luke 16:10:
He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
Many people want to do much before they have proven themselves in a little. For example, when I was in bible college, there were students who wanted to establish large ministries who never helped usher, serve in children’s ministry, or lead a small group in their local church. The sentiment was usually, “I don’t want to do the little stuff, it’s not really important. When God is ready for me to do something really important like pastor a church or lead a crusade in Ethiopia, I’ll be there for that. I’ll be all in.”
The truth is we are deceived when we say we will be faithful in the big things if we haven’t been faithful in little things. Before you criticize me, remember that thought didn’t originate with me. It originated with Jesus. He said, he who is faithful in least is faithful in much.” In other words, if you aren’t faithful in least, you probably won’t be faithful in much.
The older I get the more I realize the key to accomplishing much for Jesus happens when I embrace the little opportunities He sets before me. For example, I’m pastoring a church now because I was faithful to serve as a greeter, lead children’s ministry, and lead small groups at various churches for years (I did quite a bit more, those are just some of the highlights). Every time I served, God put me in roles where He developed my skills and character which got me ready for more responsibility.
I got to intern for the Dean of Students, Barry Bennett, at Charis Bible College because I was faithful to obey God and take a mission trip to Russia the Holy Spirit led me to take while in school. I was required to take a mission trip to graduate, but I’ll be honest I didn’t want to go to Russia. Russia was cold and a very expensive trip to take. It wasn’t convenient. There were other trips that were closer, warmer, and much cheaper to take. It would have been a little thing to disobey.
Russia was a trip where I would get to teach, however. It was the trip where I would get to develop a gift God put in me. It was also a trip where I met the person who oversaw which bible college students were given internship opportunities for key instructors after they graduated. My faithfulness led me to a divine connection, which led to me being promoted into a pretty significant role – interning for the Dean of Students of Charis Bible College.
I’ll never forget the first time I stood on the stage in the main auditorium and looked out at Pike’s Peak as I gave the students their test review. I thought of the great ministers who had stood on that stage like Andrew Wommack, Creflo Dollar, and Jesse Duplantis. Now I was teaching 400 first years students. I was overwhelmed! How did I get here? I immediately realized it was the goodness of God and I totally didn’t qualify. I did cooperate, however, when God asked me to do little things. This led to promotion. Big doors swing on little hinges!
The point of this article isn’t to promote me. The point is to encourage us all to say yes to God when He asks us to do little things. I’m not special. I’m certainly not the smartest, most charismatic, or best speaker. It’s the grace of God that has caused Him to do amazing things in my life. All I’ve done is cooperate with that grace – at least to some extent.
When we understand the principle of faithfulness, it increases our awareness of the grace of God. All He asks is for us to be faithful in little things and then he gives us big things as a reward. Another great biblical example of this is the parable of the minas mentioned in Luke 19. The person who was faithful with one mina was given ten cities. That’s a multiplier of 10; a pretty awesome awesome rate of return if you ask me!
Think of Elisha who was faithful to serve Elijah until the end of his ministry. Elisha was given a double portion of the spirit that was on Elijah. The Bible records that Elisha performed twice as many miracles as Elijah. All of that happened out of a man being faithful. Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? You be the judge.
God’s plans for us are beyond our wildest dreams! He created each of us to accomplish something great for Him. Just remember, while you are in the pursuit of greatness, don’t miss the little steps that help you get there. To learn more about how faithfulness causes you to fulfill your divine destiny, check out this message I taught at Grace Life Church.
