It’s Christmas season – it’s spectacular in so many ways. And Blackaby drew my attention with his statement – “The world loves the spectacular.”
So true. In fact, it seems there is always a contest on for being “more spectacular” with each new production of an item, a movie, an idea or an event.
BUT…and this is a big one…God often chooses to work through the ordinary and seemingly insignificant. Why? Blackaby explains: “In this way He demonstrates His love and His power.”
And the next set of facts he provided blew me away (spectacularly).
Throughout history, God’s answer to a critical time was to send a baby. OK, we are all focused on baby Jesus at this time of the year. I had no idea how much God loved this “baby” stuff, but I sure love to rock those little babies, so tiny and helpless but precious. So I am right with Him on this one.
Yet I realized how many babies I had missed as Blackaby continued. Each, as a baby, were God’s answer to a critical time:
**Isaac – miracle son of Abraham was an answer to prayer and fulfilled God’s promise to make his descendants a great nation with not only a birth story of huge importance (Sara was in her 90’s) but was the object of and participant in the greatest faith test any earthly father ever had, and his life foreshadowed the death and resurrection of Jesus — teaching faith to generations to come
**Moses – born as a Hebrew during their slavery in Egypt, hidden during an order to kill male babies, discovered and raised in a powerful Egyptian family, became the one who would rescue and lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and to the promised land
**Samuel – barren Hannah asked for a child from God who “remembered her” and gave her Samuel and, as she promised, after weaning him, she took him to the high priest to be raised at the tabernacle. It was the end of the judge’s period and he would have profound leadership skills and steadfastness as the last judge of Israel
**John the Baptist – born close in time to Jesus, his birth was also marked by angelic proclamation and divine intervention plus he became a pivotal figure in the salvation history of God, preparing the way for the coming Messiah
**Jesus – you know this story well; born in a manger, angels attending and certainly a divine intervention story fulfilling prophecy and becoming the Savior we worship today
And it is not just little babies through whom God worked. He whittled down Gideon’s army of 32,000 men to a mere 300 – and they were going up against 135,000 enemy soldiers. When viewed as numbers, it was a “really small” army – but God’s battle plan was unique and effective. He delivered the Israelites from the Midianites. He showed his power.
Don’t forget, when Jesus selected his first disciples, he had hundreds following him. But he settled on 12 – and a motley crew they were! But follow the stories – they served him mightily.
Who could imagine how small five loaves of bread and two fish from a boy’s lunch looked – fine for one family perhaps. But Jesus fed a multitude (5,000 men and their families) on this small amount of food and had 12 baskets of food left over – go figure!
As Jesus taught about the kingdom of God, he compared it to a mustard seed. That was the smallest seed known but it grew into an enormous tree. Another “small” comparison for the kingdom of God was “leaven” which is hardly noticeable in size but it raises a whole batch of dough into a much larger bread loaf.
Of course, Jesus used children beautifully in this “small things” comparison. When children came to Jesus, many would dismiss them as annoyances and not important. Of course, Jesus said that in order to enter His kingdom, people must approach God as a child. Blackaby really nailed it with this comparison.
Blackaby’s quote is so true today – “Christians often accept the adage ‘the bigger the better’.” How many churches (or ministries) measure their success by the number of people involved? How often are we praying for huge results, big miracles and looking for spectacular displays of God’s power?
I loved this reminder Blackaby’s devotional gave me – “we must learn to view success as God does. God is interested in the heart; He is pleased with obedience.”
And it struck me that these two things may never be known or visible to others, nor may we know all the great results our heart-for-God actions or obedience in big and small things bring. We may feel as weak, helpless and small as a baby at times when we know we are to obey and love as pleases God. In this season of grand celebration proportion, may you experience God’s blessings from “spectacularly small” things He provides to respond to critical times –and in so doing, demonstrate his love and power.
