Go Big or Go Home OR Little is Much When God is in it?
Today, BIG everything seems like such a BIG deal. Just go into a 7-Eleven store in Texas and they’ve got the Super “Big Gulp” Drinks, Oklahomans have Quik Trip where the drinks are the “BIG Q” drinks. Go into some fast food restaurant and we’re invited to SUPER SIZE our fries and drinks. There are those who drive a BIG hummer to let folks know who the BIG BOSS is. In all those cases, those folks believe “Bigger is better”.
There’s the BIG expression “Go Big or Go Home” – meaning “be extravagant or do whatever you are doing to its fullest!”
But this post isn’t about BIGGER being better….it’s about the LITTLE THINGS that really matter. Remember “little” David taking care of his sheep? All his BIG brothers – armored and trained for battle – couldn’t defeat the Philistines, but “little” David armored only with his faith and trust in God, his stones and a sling – took down the BIG GULP giant. That time “Bigger is Better” and “Go Big or Go Home” sure didn’t matter.
I heard about a major power outage that affected millions of people in Arizona, California and Mexico. Two nuclear reactors were temporarily shut down. Traffic backed up for miles all over the area. Cars collided as frustrated drivers navigated without traffic signals. Airports were shut down, stranding passengers. Happening on an incredibly hot, triple-digit-temperature September day, the power outage knocked out air conditioning. It left people stuck in elevators. San Diego beaches were closed when almost two million gallons of raw sewage spilled, a result of the water pumps failure at the regional station. The failure continued to wreak havoc days after it was resolved.
Why did all of this happen? It turns out that one person’s undeliberate actions somehow tripped a switch in southwest Arizona. One little thing that mattered. One person unintentionally caused chaos for millions of people. It had the ripple effect.
And what about that little “unintentional” remark we say carelessly to someone that causes their day to crash and causes them to implode because of rejection, misunderstanding and disappointment. We think it’s the BIG things that matter, but not so when it comes to what matters most. Our actions do make a difference. And, conversely, it is possible that the encouraging words we said to someone about a job well done made a difference in their day and their family’s day, because they came home feeling esteemed and valued and they, in turn, made their family feel esteemed and valued. Shoveling snow from a neighbor’s walkway may have started a “pay it forward” line of thinking. Even the smallest actions can cause unbelievable good or wreak havoc in unintended ways. Like that employee that caused all the havoc in Arizona, we can make havoc or make for peace and joy in someone’s life. We can make a difference.
Luke 16:10 “Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones.” The little things of life is where integrity shows up – often in the stuff that no one sees, in the stuff behind the scenes. In the small, unseen, unspectacular choies of life where we do the right thing even when no one ever sees it.
Big OR small…..may our hearts be opened to the potential to be used as a “ripple effect” of love, joy, peace, and comfort to our world.