The second unexpected source of blessings originates in “small things”. By small things I mean normal things, the things that pertain to the common life. These include tasks or occurrences that go usually unnoticed, or people who are not particularly impressive or eye-catching.
The importance of small things
I think most of us will agree that life is mostly made of such small things. That’s the reason why they are more propitious to form or deform us than big things. We might not be aware of it but we actually rub against them all day long.
Now many people are busy seeking blessings from what is remarkable and special, or perhaps from something related to a memorable or famous place. They look for these sources with great expectation, and when they find them they gamble their hope on them. But what they often fail to see is that in this restless agitation they might have trampled down what God had prepared for them, i.e., a very special gift, wrapped in casual and colorless paper.
God’s wisdom
In His wisdom, God often hides His blessings in what appears insignificant and trivial. For instance, the greatest blessing God has for mankind is hidden in ordinary people like you and me.
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence” (1 Cor. 1:26–29).
So God sent us to bring the message of salvation to the world. That’s right! Us, the foolish, weak, and base things of the world. What is the reaction? More often than not they laugh at us, despise and reject us, not knowing that the greatest blessing God has for them is hidden in these base and unimpressive vessels. Yet the tragedy in all this is that we, ourselves, fall at times in the same trap. Our worldly mind defrauds us and leaves us empty-handed, precisely where God had prepared a blessing.
Naaman
There is a story in the Scriptures that should help us to avoid such misfortunes. I am referring to the story of Naaman. You can read it in second Kings chapter five. He was commander of the Syrian army, and was a great and honorable man. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. Happily for him there was a young girl from the land of Israel that had been made captive and was waiting on Naaman’s wife. This young maid brought a message of hope. She told his wife: “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.”
The story has it that at last Naaman went to Elisha in the hope that the prophet would heal him. At his amazement Elisha didn’t even come out of his house. He “sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” The solution was simple enough. “But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ 12 Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.”
Naaman thought Elisha would acknowledge his dignity and honor him by coming out to him. But instead, the prophet sent his servant. Secondly, the commander of the Syrian army thought Elisha was going to do something striking, something unusual and phenomenal. In other words, he had come with preconceived ideas. But amazingly, nothing turned out as he had anticipated. There was no grandeur and nothing sensational. Elisha’s servant simply told him to go and wash in the Jordan seven times. So Naaman became furious and walked away.
This should make us reflect, for how many times did we go to God with preconceived ideas. I have done it on different occasions and it always leaves a bad taste in the mouth. We think God will work it out this way or that way and He doesn’t. If we speak of revival we already know how it will come to pass. We attach specific colors and voices to it as if we have it all figured out. And then, at our absolute dismay, nothing of it happens. Only a still small voice comes to us saying: “Do this, and not that.” And the “this” is often absolutely colorless as far as most evangelicals are concerned. It might be a duty everyone could do, which amounts in appearance to a little unimpressive nothing. So, as Naaman, we walk away disillusioned.
Happily, Naaman had wise and humble servants who saved the situation, for often the humble can see the ordinary and rejoice in it, while the proud look at it with disdain (Psalm 69:32). No wonder Paul writes: “Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble” (Rom. 12:16), for to such belong innumerable blessings.
Let’s read what the servants of the great commander had to say:
And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?”
The willingness to do great things is no sign of humility. Naaman would have done it in a blink of an eye. The problem for him was to do the unimpressive, the normal and common. For him, such trivialities were offensive. But thank heavens, there were remains of wisdom in Naaman and he gave heed to his servants. The rest is history: “So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
On my next post I will continue to write about the second unexpected source of blessings, i.e., blessings hidden in small things.
If you think this post can help somebody else you can share it with the options presented bellow.
