The Little Things
One of the most beautiful things we learn over time as we walk with Jesus through His Holy Spirit is the little things that He does for us that are really big. There is both a substance and a beauty to them as one ponders how God addresses our needs and wants.
Sometimes I yearn to see His face and my eyes search for Him coming back in the clouds. I know that I am not alone. God’s presence is a gift from Himself to us and I am of the personal opinion that the written words we produce fail to even come close to the preciousness and beauty of His presence. I’ve tasted and there is nothing greater.
Do you remember those last parting words that Jesus gave us as found in Matthew 28:20? ” . . . and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Being tuned to the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance doesn’t come naturally. It’s the development of a relationship that transcends the physical and enters into the spiritual realm. It’s a different fabric, it’s a different touch and the Holy Spirit of Christ can manifest Himself to us in a variety of ways. I’ve tasted some of those too.
What happens next just naturally goes better when it is mixed with prayer. That yearning of our hearts that oftentimes cannot be adequately expressed in words. Even there, God helps us (Romans 8:26) as He intercedes for us.
How many times has God warned us of danger or of what might cause us harm? How many times has He provided us with words that flow from our mouths to address a need or communicate His love to others, sustained by His love for that individual, that goes beyond the words that we might say or the love that we might have for that individual? And how many times does He pay attention to the tiniest detail that we think surely, He will not take notice of? And how many times can we not stop ourselves from thanking Him for taking notice? I’ve tasted of these too.
The fabric of the spiritual realm cannot be felt between our fingers. It is not physical, is goes beyond that. The other day I wrote how I can’t see Jesus walking on the water. That’s the old me in my need still looking for the physical Jesus here. That was the old me looking for what I am used to.
My wife Peggy has dementia. It is both devastating and extremely difficult to traverse through these unknown waters. Yet, God in His mercy and grace ministers to both of us daily. I get up early in the morning to write these posts so that my time with my wife is with her when she is awake. That is what God would have me do and I do it. Sometimes a post may take an hour to complete, and sometimes it takes two or close to three hours, depending on the topic and complexity of the topic being discussed. Sometimes my wife wakes up early, and sometimes she sleeps in. One of my prayers is that my service to my wife does not interfere with my service (such as it is) to God through this ministry that I work at here on this blog. And guess what? Time after time after time, as soon as I am finished these posts, it is only then that my wife wakes up. Consistently. That is just one of the little things that God takes care of for me and please understand, there are many.
When I mess up and confess it to Him, He fixes it by arranging a meeting of the hearts between my wife and I. He supplies the words that come out of my mouth, He supplies the love too. You’d have to be there. I can’t thank Him enough.
As I see the sun rising this morning, I am mindful that this is a new day and God is here, waiting to guide and sustain me, whether I stand or whether I fall, and I’ve tasted a few of those too.
Take heart, enter into communion with God from your heart and He will sustain you. He is the light that never goes out. He honestly cares and He is so much more than what we desire to see.
Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!
Bruce Cooper is a disciple of Jesus, married to Peggy, with 5 grown up children, 7 grandchildren. He is retired from the Canadian Armed Forces and resides in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. a.k.a. “Papa.” To read more of Bruce’s work visit Reasoned Cases For Christ.
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Correct Bruce. I have learnt that No gift is small if it comes from heart. For if it comes from Heart, it comes from God. I have realized also that “What I have is all I need.”, and God, can show his love and care to me in a unique and unexpected way – sometimes using whatever little I have, for me to reach greater heights of success. The Scripture supports this as we learn that ; when God asked Moses, “what is that in thine hand? ,Moses replied,………A rod.”(Exodus 4;2) . He could as well say “Nothing”, but He knew he had something in his hand that God could use; so he answered correctly. That Rod is all that Moses needed to accomplish God’s purposes at the time, and with it, he brought the children of Israel out of Egypt.
In the new testament, Christ Jesus asked his disciples a similar question. He taught a large crowd, about five thousand men .Some of his disciples then requested that he should send the multitude away so they could buy food for themselves, having been with Him in the desert for long.. However, the master declined and rather asked the disciples, “What do you have?”
The disciples answered ;’there is a little boy who has five loaves of bread and two Fishes,” and the master knew that all they had is all they needed. He then took the little boy’s lunch, blessed it, and gave back to His disciples to share with the people.. Trusting that something had happened they started distributing the bread and fish to the multitude and the more they distributed,the more they had to distribute. After everyone had been fed, they had twelve extra baskets full of bread and Fish.(Luke 9;11-17).
It is therefore evident to me that in my life, I should never think, ” If I only had this or that, my life would be wonderful, or I would be a blessing to others.:” What I have is all I need and this is Divine love, God.. He is all I need to produce whatever else I might require or to be a blessing to fellowmen.
If now I may be asked to give my thoughts about God, I would boldly say that He is Dependability, Availability, steadfastness. Effortlessness and Accomplishment. I’m not a victim but a victor in His kingdom.
Very well said, Isaac, thank you!