Great Things In Small Ways

At times I am downright bored with my life. Of the great things I want to accomplish none do I envision occurring here where I am or now—in this time. Surely I will achieve great things when I have reached great heights of influence, or when I have matured sufficiently to truly deserve a voice. Surely what little I contribute is lost among the noise and blur of life.

And then through the malaise a whispered voice reminded me that I have touched a life, a small note reminded me that, even now, I am doing great things in small ways. And as the Father has granted, that is enough. George Elliot’s words are worth pondering:

“[Dorothea’s] full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” George Elliot – Middlemarch

The truth is the words and actions of the most inconsequential people we have met have shaped us in inestimable ways for good or bad. In the same way our own words of encouragement and acts of love may travel well beyond our own sphere. The faithfulness to love as Christ loved, to give as Christ gave to all those we encounter is heroic. It is the doing of great things in small ways.

Deut. 10:12, Josh. 24:15, Zech. 4:10, Matt. 25:45,

Copyright©2008 Hudson Russell Davis

5 Comments:

  1. Correcting myself…:)

    “Nothing is insignificant when it comes from a heart of love.”

  2. How insignificant we see ourselves in the big picture, but what would be the outcome if we stopped doing what we see as insignificant. Lives are touched in so many ways, by a smile, a touch, a much needed hug, kind and encouraging words. Yet they all stem from one root…Love. It was love by love that Jesus descended into the earth, it was love that made Him give His life, and it is yet, still love that causes him to extend grace. Nothing is significant when it comes from a heart of love.

  3. Hudson!!!

    How I have missed you!!! I was listening to your CD in my car the other day, and thought I need to search online to see if I can find you. What a treasure to find your website! I have missed my Dallas friends so much. I hope you are doing well up in the cold. I will be checking in to read your posts.

    With Love

  4. We touch and change the world one person at a time. It is when we take the time to take stock of the lives we have touched and changed through God and the lives they in turn have touched and changed.. this is when we realise that indeed we have accomplished a feat that is greater than the one we set out to achieve in the first place. Indeed there is more… I just marvel at the way God made us though… That no matter how much you do, lay hands on the sick, cast out demons, a word of encouragement to others.. your heart keeps crying out that there is more still. More to do , More to say, and there is soo much more of God that he still has to reveal to us and needs us to do .. those he calls his beloved!

  5. Forgive me, but I have to admit that the first sentence makes me giggle-I have been there. I once was a bored Christian who one day cried out to God, “There has to be more!” The “more” for me came when I began to seek to do the “greater works” that Jesus said we would do. By that time I was so ready to lay hands on the sick and see them recover, to cast out demons and raise the dead-all in Jesus’s name! God has taken me on such an exciting journey to the “greater works” that I just laugh about it at times. He has shown me that there is indeed soooo much more to this Christian journey, and so much more to my relationship with Him. It’s awesome! I don’t even try to articulate my experiences anymore because I just get blank faces staring back at me-but, it’s okay because “there is more!” I praise God for that because this sister was worried there for a minute. Bored-never! You want boring? Then let’s talk about “Religion”. Blessings!

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