I’ve always been small, the runt of the litter. In all my pictures growing up, I’m the shortest one. People regularly assumed I was a few years younger than I was. In response, I became what you might call “scrappy.” Trying to appear bigger, stronger, more capable than I was.
I still do.
Our kids finished school a couple weeks ago, and, in true Gina form, I made a summer schedule for myself that belies the fact that they still live in our home and require some level of interaction. By the end of the first week, I was disappointed. So much of my time was spent not on the grand plans I had, but on the seemingly mundane tasks of laundry, driving, cooking, and cleaning.
I wanted more to show for my time. Many of us do. We want a broader influence, greater opportunities, upward mobility. Significance is the goal. Ordinary feels mediocre. The world calls us to accomplish visible, important tasks, not the day-to-day.
In contrast, the question was posed once at a conference I attended, “Do you have enough faith to live a small life?”
Do we have faith that God is just as much at work, just as glorified, just as powerful, in the small things? In us doing the ordinary? Doing less? Do we have faith that we would still be just as important?
Confession: most times, no. I do not have that kind of faith. I suspect many of us don’t.
A small life might ask more faith of me than a grand one.
I want that kind of faith.
In the eyes of the world, most of what I do is not spectacular, nor does it need to be.
So I should embrace my smallness.
I want to live every little moment fully, seeing God in every detail, experiencing His power in my weakness and my limits.
Give me faith, God, to believe that it is enough that You see what I do in secret, that You are honored by my willing sacrifice in the day-to-day.
Make me faithful with little, not that I would then gain much, but simply because it pleases Your heart.
May I be small so that others can be bigger, believing that them having more space does not diminish my worth.
I want to occupy only as much space in this world as God would have me occupy, no more, no less.
We might be small in the eyes of the world, but in those ordinary moments we can live lives that glorify Him when we do it willingly, joyfully, and with faith that it is enough.
“He must become greater, I must become less.” John 3:30
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Such a great perspective, Gina. Thank you for this.
Thanks Linda!
This was really beautiful, Gina. Thanks so much for sharing.
You’re welcome, Kathy! Thanks for reading!
I didn’t get a chance to read this until today, Gina, but it put into words perfectly what I was trying to convey to my youngest son at my little brother’s funeral yesterday. He wasn’t famous, didn’t write a book or have a YouTube channel or invent anything. He wasn’t a military hero or statesman but he did his job well and with kindness and a servant heart. As we watched people come out of their homes and businesses to watch his funeral procession drive through his small town it was a lesson to my son–and to me–of the power of a “small life” well-oiled. Thank you for your words, Gina.
Kristi,
I thought the same thing after my grandma passed away. Listening to my dad and his siblings share about her, I was struck by her faithfulness to live the life God gave her. Thanks for reading!