Greatness

Little drops of water,
Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean,
And the pleasant land:

So the little minutes,
Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.

We are probably all familiar with that little verse. Simple as it may be, it is worthy of our reflection.

Scripture exhorts us to be faithful in the little things. You know - the mundane routines, the stuff that doesn't seem to matter in our limited perspective, things that don't amount to a hill of beans.

Youthful perspective almost always needs an adjustment in understanding what is truly important. Even I remember those years filled with budding dreams of grandeur; I would slay dragons, take mountains, defeat foes, endure persecution. Oh, the speculations of deeds to be done for God were endless – and great (might I add!)

In time there is a modification of definition; we begin to understand faithfulness in altered terms. Greatness, we learn, is equated with servanthood. Servanthood is equated with - wait - could it be? Servanthood is serving - doing, more often than not, menial tasks.

So we embrace this new definition and throw ourselves wholly into service. Daily we remind ourselves that these insignificant chores will add up to something truly consequential. And most certainly they will. But what?

After years of diligent “doing”, we must be careful not to lose heart. Testing may prove that we have simply exchanged certain self-wrought goals and ambitions for different aspirations. But whose? Is He the engineer, or are we still dreaming our own dreams? Are we allowing Him to plan the outcome or does the tendency to expect certain results continue? When events fail to meet our expectations, we encounter disappointment – real and crushing disappointment. Our hopes have been dashed. Faith and confidence in His promises are shaken. What have we been doing this for? What was the point of these weeks and months and years of service? Is this all there is?

We sang a chorus in church this morning:

“God’s ways are different than
The dreams of any man.”

Twenty, thirty, forty years later, we must continue to be faithful in little, and allow Him to be the Master planner. We don't need to know what the exact results will be. We may never even see the glorious outcome that He orchestrates through simple obedience. But I do believe that if we could get a glimpse of those who will be most rewarded in eternity, we would stand back in disbelief and declare, “But who are these? I did not read their names in history books or Charisma magazine. There have been no best selling testimonials written about them. What great exploits have they wrought?” And the simple answer will be that they were faithful in little and are now rulers over much.

I am learning once again to let go of my own dreams concerning what He will do with my life, the lives of my children, and the lives of others. That which I place a premium on and deem to be greatness is seldom what He has highly valued and commended. Indeed, His ways are different than the dreams of any man.