Author Mary DeMuth had a very honest and compelling blog post last Friday about being Faithful in Little. I identified with her comments and have continued to think about the importance of faithfulness and how easy it is to get discouraged with the “little.” (You can read Mary’s blog post here.)

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest in greater responsibilities” (Luke 16:10 NLT).

God Does Reward

This verse has always implied to me that if I am faithful in little things, God will give me greater things. The Parable of the Talents supports this when the master says to the servant who multiplied what the master gave him, “You are a good servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward” (Luke 19:17 NLT).

Like Mary, sometimes I feel like I’ve been faithful in little things for a really long time. You start to wonder when the Lord will reward for being faithful in little things. When will He give greater responsibilities? I love being faithful because I know it pleases the Lord, and that’s what I want most of all. But I also love Bigger, Greater and More!

I love big crowds. (I grew up in big churches.) I love reaching Lots of people! I pray for God to “expand my influence” for Him. And I really do want it to be for and about Him. Don’t I?

In His Time

A thought occurred to me . . . What if being faithful in little encompasses all of my time on earth? What if my “reach” and “influence” is always small by the world’s (and today’s social media!) standards? What if the “more” and “greater” is in heaven? Perhaps those ten cities I want to rule wait for me in eternity. Perhaps the greater tasks the Lord has for me won’t be revealed until then.

My Choice

Well, then…I will be faithful. In the little things. For however long the Lord wills. My life is His. It is about Him. I will influence the ones He has given me to the very best of my ability for Him.

And I will remember Galatians 6:9 as well. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (NIV) Jesus is the Lord of the Harvest. At the proper time, those seeds of faithfulness will reap a harvest of righteousness. As the Lord wills.

Rejoice!

So, let’s rejoice in the little, knowing that even the “little” is big in God’s eyes and is probably having more of an impact than we realize. Faithfulness, by definition, will be over a long period of time. Let us be steadfast, unmoved. Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus and the joy He brings us. Let’s stay encouraged and encourage those around us!

Are you being faithful with the little God has already given you?

Do you need to encourage yourself today with God’s Word to continue in faithfulness?

(If so– Be Encouraged! I’m cheering you on!)

It’s so easy for me to get “wound up.” I seem to be wired for “anxious.” And I have my buttons and triggers, just like everyone else, things that make me stressed very quickly. I have dealt with this all my life.

Holding On / Letting Go

It’s not that I don’t trust the Lord in my mind and speaking in faith really keeps me grounded. But often, I hold my stress in my body. Even when I’m actively trying to trust and I’m praying and believing (perhaps even striving) for the answer, I’m holding my breath till God acts on my behalf. (And in His grace and faithfulness, He still comes through for me. He doesn’t berate me for a lack of trust. He just shows me His love again.) But there is an underlying tension that is hard for me to escape. Even if ¾ of my being is trusting, there is a stress factor of “holding on” in the other ¼ instead of “letting go.”

So, what a joy today is when I am experiencing the reality of trusting Jesus in my whole being.

Physical Peace

I have been thinking — He has met my needs before. He has been meeting them right along. He is going to continue to provide all that I need. He is not going to stop now. He won’t abandon me or strand me with no way home. He will help me. He always does. He will show me the way. He will send for me. He will rescue me. He is my peace. Aah, actual physical peace. (Breathe in and out.)

This Time

This time I’m going to trust Him while I wait for Him to show Himself magnificent. This time I’m going to relax and let Him take care of it. This time I will not worry while I wait. I will actually trust while I wait. This time I’m going to breathe and relax. My elevated stress level does not help God in any way. Holding my breath is not doing my part! I don’t need to feel anxious.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6).

That verse shows us the path to peace. Ask God. Give thanks. Trust and wait.

This time, I will trust Him with my whole being while I wait.

Is there something you need to trust God with today?

Jr. High Poetry!

I don’t know what it was, but I couldn’t start it. It didn’t make sense to me. I couldn’t see the whole picture or grasp the whole scope. I finally told my mom and the night before it was due, my mom, her friend and I all worked together to gather the poems I needed. We got it done and I was just glad it was over. Then I went back to my usual over-achieving ways.

The Procrastination Button

Unfortunately, from time to time that procrastination button gets pushed. I still can’t tell you precisely what sets it off. Something about not seeing the whole picture or grasping the whole scope…something about not being exactly sure what to do (not that I’m a perfectionist or anything!) and feeling some element out of my control (I’m not controlling either! Ha, ha!) I find myself putting off that big project until…later. Much later.

Behind the “Putting Off”: FEAR

I recently delayed, deferred and otherwise put off doing something I needed to do and even wanted to do, so I’ve been thinking about this procrastination issue. I believe the bottom line is some kind of fear.

Fear of failure. Fear of success. (Seriously, success changes everything.) Fear of less than perfect. Fear of all that is out of my control.

That’s probably why II Timothy 1:7 is one of my favorite verses. Sometimes I quote it out loud to myself, more than once, until I break through the fear barrier. This helps me move forward.

“For God hath not given us a spirit of fear;

but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (KJV)

The NIV says, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity,

but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”

Forward Motion Restored

When it’s fear causing the sudden lack of momentum resulting in endless procrastination, we can turn to the Lord and know He is not the one holding us back. He has given us all the power we need to move forward. His perfect love drives out all our fear (I John 4:18) and we have the clarity of mind and the self-discipline we need to see that thing through.

Hooray for God’s strength in us! We can do all things through Him!

The enemy wants us bound, but God has set us free. Let’s walk forward in power, love and mental strength.

Is there something you are putting off because of fear?

On Our Own?

Sometimes we forget God is with us. We act as if we are “on our own” in this life, surviving by our instincts, thriving by our hard work alone. We think we have to “pull ourselves up by our boot straps” and trudge on through. By the sheer force of our will, we pretend to conquer all.

The only problem is when we don’t conquer and give way to defeat, to despair. Then, we finally look to the heavens and say, “God, where are you?”

By Our Side

With tenderness, He replies, “Right where I’ve always been. Where are you?” It’s like the child looking one direction and crying out for her parent who is standing right by her side. He’s right there.

God is with us. This should be our comfort and confidence booster each day.

What is there to worry about? God is with us.

What is there to fear? God is with us.

Unemployed? Fighting sickness? Worried about the kids? Worried about the future? GOD is with us. Something holding you back from your dreams? Go forth and conquer! Get out there and do it! God is with us!

Got Our Back

And God is FOR us. God looks upon us with love and favor. He wants us to succeed. He fully intends and plans that we will (Jer. 29:11)—when we partner with Him. If we will take His hand, He has the adventure all planned. He is for us. He loves us.

God is for us. He’s on our side. Well, really, we’re on His side. But once that decision is made, we belong to Him. We are His children. He’s got our back. He is our Protector, our Deliverer. He is the One going before us to smooth the path. He is the ultimate “connection” who will “hook you up!” He is the One you want to know, the One to be seen and identified with! Greatness by association.

God is with us. God is for us. Be comforted. Be strong. God is with you and He’s crazy about you.

What can the phrase, “God is with me. God is for me.” give you the confidence to do today?

I just love it when I see someone in the post office or at the grocery store and have a conversation that is obviously a “God-thing,” a “God-opportunity,” and as we say good-bye, I realize that if I hadn’t been running late, I wouldn’t have run into them. I smile, knowing God is with me. That’s what I mean by “ordered steps.”

He’s the Director

God can use any part of how our day is going for His purposes and to bless us. I so appreciate the perfect parking place, the short line, the green light that helps me arrive at my meeting just when someone else is leaving the building and I get to speak an encouraging word. Truly, isn’t the best part of any day “making” someone else’s?

Conversely, I have to trust God with the full parking lot, the long line and the red light, knowing He is still ordering my steps. Maybe if I was on the road sooner, I would have been the one in the accident on the side of the road. He knows what’s best and as I surrender my daily life to Him, He is daily in my life.

Partners with God

Talk about how to keep our relationship with Him fresh and alive! When we ask Him to order our steps, we will be amazed at how smooth our day will go, how the seams will come together and how He will create opportunities to glorify Him and help someone else. We need to ask Him for divine appointments and declare ourselves willing partners with Him and see what supernatural things He will do. It’s so exciting and fulfilling.

Psalm 37:23 says, “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” (NLT)

The phrase “orders our steps” come from the King James Version, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and he delighteth in his way.”

He Cares About Our Details

Do we realize our Lord is truly interested in us and our daily agenda? Do we realize He is not only “with us” in a general sense, but also “with us” in “every detail” of our lives? He is. He cares about our every care.

We can smile. He is with us. He is leading us and guiding us. As we surrender…

Do you already ask the Lord to direct your daily steps or is it something you might try today?

Basic Conversation: The Mundane Stuff

Sometimes our relationship with the Lord can mirror earthly relationships. We talk to our spouse or kids or best friend about all the mundane things that need to be covered—like the basics on how work is going, whose turn it is to take out the garbage, what time the kids need to be at practice, and (most importantly!) what’s for dinner. But it takes more effort, time and focus to engage in a meaningful conversation with someone about what’s really eating at us, what’s driving us crazy and what we’re worried about.

We do the same thing to the Lord. We cover the basics. “Lord, please keep us safe today.” “Lord, help the kids on their finals.” “Thank You for Your goodness.”

We pray for our friends. “Lord, please let their house sell. Please provide a job. Please bring healing.”

Heart Issues: The Real Stuff

But are we taking the time to sit down and let Him into our real heart issues? Are we receiving His love and assurance that everything will work out OK or are we trying to “tough it out” alone?

He wants to spend time with us. He created us so He could hang out with us. After sin became a wall between us, Jesus died for us so we could come back into His Presence. That’s how much He wants to be a daily part of our life!

When Do We Hold Back?

Some people only run to God when they’re in trouble. When things are fine, they aren’t as motivated to see Him. I’m the opposite. I have a bad habit of only coming to Him if I feel like things are going reasonably well and I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. If I’m struggling, I don’t go as deep. I pull back. It’s like I need to have myself together first. The Lord showed me recently that this is a shame-based response. If I’m embarrassed because I’m not doing the last thing He told me or I just can’t “get it together” in some area, I hide from Him instead of running to Him for strength. (Silly!)

He’s Right There

The great thing is, the moment we turn to Him, He’s there. “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8). So true! If we reach our hand to Him, He is right there to take it. He doesn’t say, “Well… you need to read three chapters in the Bible before we’re straight again…or, let’s see, you haven’t really talked to me in a week, so you need to come to me for a week before you’ll hear my voice.” No. Not at all. (I’m so grateful!)

Praise the Lord—He is amazing! And He loves us. If one of our children needed our help, but kept avoiding us and wouldn’t ask, the moment he was brave enough to talk to us, or the moment he held still long enough for us to get their attention about it, we too would be right there to help. How much more does the Lord love us and want to show us that love!

We need to let Him. We need to “come near” to Him always.

What causes you to pull away from the Lord? Do you need to turn toward Him today?

Hi Friends. So sorry for the long absence. I feel like we were in the middle of a conversation and I suddenly went and took a nap. So rude! I see that some of you have been checking in, probably wondering if I would reappear. Thanks so much. I appreciate that.

Fibromyalgia Surprise

I was surprised by a Fibromyalgia flare-up. I was diagnosed with FMS in July of 1997, so I’ve dealt with this for a long time and I’ve greatly recovered over the years. I can’t remember the last time (before this) I had such pain. But I was overzealous on a workout machine one day and irritated my chest muscles (they’re a little sensitive like that.) The next day they ached and the next day they hurt worse. Soon, they were intensely unhappy and me along with them!

It took three weeks to get back to completely pain free and because it was my chest wall muscles that were inflamed, some everyday things were difficult, like—oh I don’t know—breathing! Breathing, talking, singing, using my arms (yes, it’s all connected) became a challenge. I had to pull back and wait it out.

That’s what we have to do sometimes.

Be Still & Wait

I much prefer the “press forward, push ahead, try harder and make it happen” approach. But I have learned (the hard way) that is not wise when it comes to my body and Fibromyalgia. Pushing forward, in the sense of not listening to the pain, will make it worse. Much worse.

Sometimes, we do what we can and wait. In this case, what I could do was take Ibuprofen, apply a topical anti-inflammatory and hold still. I could also pray…and wait. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;” Isaiah 40:31 (KJV).

Listen to Pain

Pain should always get our attention. It is designed to make us listen. We are supposed to hear what pain is saying. Pain points us to a problem. And yet, so often we ignore pain in our lives. We think we are being tough and pushing through, but we are not listening to the pain or the problem to which it is trying to point us.

Pain is a signal something is wrong and a call to action.

Pain: A Call to Action

Physically, that call to action may be a call to rest and hold still (seems counter-intuitive, but it is a call to do what will help the problem causing the pain) or it may be a call to go to the doctor, set the broken leg or have surgery to correct an internal problem.

Emotionally and spiritually, pain is the same kind of call to action. If our emotions or spirit is hurting, we need to attend to that. Maybe we need to kindly give ourselves a band-aid over the hurtful words said to us last week. Maybe we need to set a “broken bone” by giving it a cast of forgiveness to heal a big betrayal. Or maybe there is a buried internal problem that started long ago, and Jesus needs to do spiritual surgery to correct it. He can go in deep and take out the poison or disease and all the damage it has caused and bring complete healing to that place.

The Lord, Our Healer

The most important thing is to acknowledge this kind of pain and take it to the Lord. What is the specific situation, conversation, relationship or memory causing pain? What does the Word say about it?

Do we need His comfort? He offers it to us every moment. Do we need to forgive or ask forgiveness? We must take that action. The Lord is our help. We must not try to bury it or it will get worse. Much worse.

May you find continued freedom from all pain.

What kind of pain do you need to bring before the Lord for healing today?

One of the things I love about twitter is you get to see (depending on who you follow, of course) Christians all over the nation and even the world, serving God right where they are. So many, many people doing their very best every day to follow after God and to be faithful to Him in their various realms of influence. I love that. It lets me know I’m not alone. God’s got an army out there.

God’s Army–You Are Not Alone

It reminds me of Elijah when he was tired and discouraged and he told the Lord how he alone had been faithful and that he was the only prophet left and now his life was in danger too (I Kings 19:14). The Lord answered Elijah, giving him instructions as to his next steps and then He said, “Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him” (I Kings 19:18). SEVEN thousand. Elijah was not alone. God had a remnant out there.

That’s the big picture. God has an army. God has a remnant. There are thousands and thousands of people serving Him in the world today. All in not lost.

But what about the little picture? The close-up of where you and I are today? To answer that, let’s go to the movies.

Avatar – “I see you.”

Have you seen Avatar yet? I saw it last weekend. It was the first full-length movie I’ve seen in 3D and is was well worth every minute. It was a brilliant, visual feast. The blue people living on Pandora called the Na’vi had a saying of greeting and of intimacy – “I see you.”

Sometimes we need to know someone really sees us. In our busy lives, as we rush around, we need someone to stop and connect with our heart, to understand how we feel, to take the time to look us in the eye and say, “I see you.”

God Sees You

God always sees us. Up close and personal. We are never alone. He sees us in a deep, meaningful way. He looks in our eyes and says, “I see you. I see you right now. I know right where you are. I have not lost track of you for a moment. I know your feelings. I know your worries and concerns. I see your heart. I see your hurts. I see your faithfulness to Me. I love you. I see you.”

Remember you are not alone today.

God is with you. God loves you. God sees you.

Can you take the time to stop and look full in His face today, to pause and see the love in His eyes for you?

I held my breath, opened it, read quickly. It was personal, not a form letter. Good sign. Liked it. Well-written, blah, blah, blah…but…no, not quite right for them at this time. More about how hard it is for new authors right now and a word of encouragement. The End.

I was still holding my breath. I didn’t want to react, didn’t want to cry. In a flash, I thought of the people I would need to tell; faithful friends praying for the proposal, writer friends, family. I still didn’t move. In that frozen moment, the Lord spoke to me so clearly. In my heart and mind I heard Him say, “Let Me speak first.” Yes. I could do that. I finally exhaled.

I kept thinking on what the Lord said. “Let Me speak first.” I let that echo in my mind. Those words alone were so amazing, so brilliant. What a great idea/word/concept! Before anyone else could influence me in any way, I would wait on God and hear from Him. Before I even processed my own feelings, I would hear from God and know what to do.

Our God is so tender and caring and full of purpose. He did comfort me and love me and show me the next step. And I have always remembered His words and that moment of truth. Let Him speak first.

Is there an area of your life where you need to listen and “let God speak first” in this New Year?