It's the Little Things

In 2 Kings 5 is the story of a great leader, a general named Naaman, who is afflicted with leprosy. His wife's servant, a girl from Israel, encouraged Naaman to go to Israel to seek healing from the prophet Elisha.

Long story short, he goes but what he encounters is not what he had come to expect. This general was a great military leader and was accustomed to doing great things. He was also accustomed to people coming to him, so it was probably an exceeding insult that Elisha did not come directly to Naaman but instead, sent a messenger. And the message was simply: go dip in the Jordan River seven times and be healed.

Naaman was insulted on several levels, not the least of which is that Elisha did not come offer enough respect to show his face. And then to go and wash in a river in a land that Naaman likely considered to be inferior to his own homeland. It was only when his own servants reminded him that if something great had been asked of him, he would not have hesitated to do it for the sake of being healed. So Naaman dipped himself in the river as Elisha had instructed, and he came out completely healed.

Some of us get too filled with the big jobs we dream of one day having, such as a pastorate in a very large church or conducting revivals on the scale of a Billy Graham crusade or having thousands of dollars to give toward what we would consider to be a worthy cause. We rarely consider that it is the "little things" that give the greatest and most profound blessings. In the end, we touch more lives with the little things we are capable of managing than we will in wishing for something (coveting??) that is beyond our grasp.

Such is the life of a blogger. Or a preacher at a small, rural church. Or a server on the soup line. Or a stock person at a Salvation Army Thrift Store. Or the greeter who stands at the door of any church and makes everyone feel right at home. This list of the little things is only the beginning of the small, yet powerful, ways each of us can impact a life.

We are not Jesus. We cannot reasonably expect to be able to do the things He did. Then again, there can only be one Christ as there is only one God. Doing the things that we can do, however great or small, will make the difference in another's life and give them a sense of belonging, a sense of self-worth that will go a lot further than our dreams of accomplishing "great" things, even if our intent is to do great things in the name of the Lord. The really great things are the "lost coin" or the "lost sheep". Just one small thing at a time.