“It was just a small lump,” said my friend. “I never worried at first.” But it nagged her, so she made a visit to the doctor. Tests revealed a rapidly growing cancerous tumour. If she had continued to ignore it, it could have ended her life within months. Years later, still healthy, she lives to bless others with her love and friendship.
“Little things are really big things, aren’t they, Nana?” We’d just finished my eldest grandbean’s favourite story in the big Enid Blighton book, the one about the boy whose wagon had a broken wheel. His father cautioned him to fix it, but to a child it seemed a small unimportant thing.
The boy realized the importance of small things the day his mother asked him run an errand for her, using the wagon. On the way to the store the broken wheel fell off. Rolling down the road it created a comically escalating series of accidents, ending up with a horse-drawn milk cart tumbling over the side of a bridge into the brook below. Benjamin loved that part – but a decade later, the lesson the story taught him remains.
Anyone who has had a slow leak in a tank, a tire, an air-filled mattress or flotation device, knows that lesson well. So do those of us who have ignored a small rift in a relationship, experienced an instrument just slightly out of tune or left a tap dripping while on vacation. If left untended, small troubles can bring huge problems.
But paying attention to small things not only prevents big trouble; it can also bring huge dividends. At Bible study a few weeks ago, our friend Sheryl mentioned the song, “Dream Small” by Josh Wilson. Since most of us didn’t know it, she played it for us. The lyrics include these words:
“It’s visiting the widow down the street or dancing on a Friday with your friend with special needs. These simple moments change the world. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with bigger dreams; just don’t miss the minutes on your way, your bigger things, ‘cause these simple moments change the world.
“So dream small. Don’t bother like you’ve gotta do it all. Just let Jesus use you where you are one day at a time. Live well, loving God and others as yourself. Find little ways where only you can help. With His great love a tiny rock can make a giant fall. So dream small.”
The Bible repeatedly stresses that same theme. In its pages we read that the tiny giant-slaying rock flew from the slingshot of a young, unlikely hero – a shepherd boy named David. We learn that our small tongues can start mighty fires, and that even a little faith can move mountains. We read about the little lunch that fed thousands, three little words that calmed a storm, and a small baby named Jesus sent by God to bring the world salvation.
Pay attention to small things. They are the seeds of life’s biggest things.
Here’s Josh …