God's Masterpiece

"Sometimes the biggest things God does start out in the smallest, most ordinary acts of daily faithfulness. The things we do so often and with so little fanfare that we don't even think about them anymore. We can spend so much time wondering and worrying if we're fufulling God's primary will for our lives. Yet ultimately, God's will isn't about the things we achieve, its about the people we become. Life is more about how He uses us to make a difference to the people who cross our paths, even while we are just going about our normal, sometimes boring lives.

God's primary will for our lives isn't about a particular job or circumstance. It's not about the city we live in or whether we're married or single. We are in God's will when we awake with a willingness to go wherever He leads that day, to seek Him in the ordinary, and to love and influence the people around us.

Life is what is happening all around us while we're waiting for the thing we hope will give us some inner peace, contentment and joy. But the problem with that is when and if it happens, we usually enjoy it for all of about three and a half minutes. But when we really start to pay attention, we realize life is full of small wonders that can make all the difference in a day, an hour or a lifetime. And those small, ordinary moments are no less holy than the big ones. In fact, maybe they are more holy because it is the million little pieces of our our lives that really shape the people we become.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's, The Hobbit, the wizard Gandalf says, "Some believe it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I've found. It is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay."

The true joy of life is found in the every day. It's the moments that don't necessarily take our breath away at the time, but often become the ones that matter most. When we look back on our days we realize such moments are the very threads that make up the tapestry of life. Taken together, these seemingly ordinary threads of joy, sorrow, conflict and laughter make something exraordinary. With every small thread, God is carefulyl and thoughtfully weaving a masterpiece."

- MELANIE SHANKLE

Church of the Small Things

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