Take a Leap of Faith…

It’s Leap Day today. So i am asking you to take a Leap of Faith. Now i am no theologian or preacher. i am merely a Bible-believing Christian who would like to talk about faith today. So no big words, no big idea – just this… God is in the little things.

He truly is. People often talk about the “big” things of faith, hope in the things unseen; have faith in God that He will provide that job or that house or that desired result etc… That’s great and good and is certainly a fantastic demonstration of faith. But i submit to you today that the little things matter to God as well.

Small matters such as when we pull into an obviously full parking garage, i often ask my little boy to pray, “Pray that God grants us a parking space.” And God does, it would seem everywhere we looked there was not a free spot and then hubby would turn a corner and there it would be, our parking spot. It may seem trivial but it is an answered prayer – we prayed and God answered. You may say, “Oh that’s just a coincidence.” Maybe. However, i believe that having faith means believing that God is involved in every aspect of your life, everyday, every hour, every minute and every second. So in that minute we needed a parking space, we asked and God provided.

Here’s another little example: i was once on my way to a seminar and was on time. Or i thought so. i walked towards the train station in our little village and was some distance away when i saw the train leaving! i was like, “Oh my God, no! i can’t be late!” i checked my watch, i wasn’t and i didn’t understand why the train left – Swiss trains are almost always (99% of the time) on time. So i doubled back and headed for the bus stop, hoping to catch the bus, but i knew that i would be late for catching the connecting train to my destination cos the bus would just take longer to get there. i asked God to help the bus get there faster. i managed to catch the bus but saw that the bus would not get there on time. i got off the bus and crossed the road, thinking who i should call to inform them i would be a whole 30 mins late (the trains run on a fixed timetable here). Then i looked up and there was my connecting train, still at the station! i ran for it and got on just as the conductor whistled for the train to leave. God answered my prayer; He didn’t make the bus go faster, He had the train wait for me 😀 (i later found out that the train i saw leaving my train station earlier was the train for rush hour which i never take so didn’t know about – it was not the train i was supposed to take.)

Here’s an unexpected one: i was in the supermarket checkout line on Tuesday, at the basket only lane (where trolleys are not allowed). i had a very full basket and had piled all my purchases onto the conveyor belt. Then i noticed that the man behind me was buying only 2 items. i offered to let him go first. He looked at me, smiled and said in German, “No worries. i have time. i can wait. We all need to learn to be a little patient, isn’t it?” It was a simple exchange which brightened my otherwise ordinary day (and truth be told, i was a little impatient that day too.) cos someone had said something small but nice to me. i didn’t ask for this and certainly had never seen the man in my life before. And if you have lived in Switzerland, you know that you seldom get more than a nod and a couple of words with strangers in a line. But God knew i needed that one little word and He sent it.

Matthew 6:25-34

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God cares for even the birds in the wild and the grass in the fields. He feeds them, He waters them, He provides for them. If He can care with such attention these wild things, i am sure He cares for us and our small issues too.

i have a little book called, Simple Wonders by Christopher de Vinck, one of my favourite books. It tells stories about God and how He is in the simple things of life; in the lives of everyday people. In there are stories which are heart-warming and show that God truly cares for us, even in the little things, i think especially in the tiny details.

In there is a story called Simple Wonders (the book’s namesake). In this story, it tells of a person who found a ladybug in his/her bathroom wall. The ladybug stayed there, on the wall, in the same spot for more than a month. Everyday the person would check on it and one night the moonlight shone on that very spot the ladybug sat, it was beautiful.

“God created the universe! He created the stars! The heavens! He created the Grand Canyon! Niagara Falls! The Alps! All that is spectacular, God has created. But we can easily forget that God also created the single blade of grass and the smallest piece of dust that floats in the sunlight of your room.

We should not forget that God is the Creator of all things great and small, even the ladybug.

Take a moment out of this day and see if you cannot recognize God’s handiwork in the smallest thing: a single strand of your hair, or a drop of water on the window.If you look closely enough, you will discover His thumbprint.”

So take a leap of faith – believe that God created every little thing on this earth and trust that He will also take care of every little aspect of your life, down to the tiniest details. May you see God in the small matters of life today.

syc