The Little Things in Life

Does God care about the "little things" in our lives? Is it silly to pray for a sick pet or a lost ear ring or a car when it is sputtering. I've come to see that "little things" are potential "faith-boosters." When sincere trust in our God's ability to perform miracles is applied, the selfish side of a prayer request instead becomes an issue of faith, a simple trust in a God who loves us and knows our need, deeper than the surface circumstance.

I can't help but remember how much of a faith-booster I experienced through a "little thing" in my life when I was nearing middle school age. I raised dairy goats for milk and showing. One of my first little white baby ones got sick when I tried to wean it off milk. It was so sick it could not stand up anymore, the point at which most of my neighbor farmers said I should just let the animal for dead. I began to wonder if I should take their advice and give up caring for it. I was getting up every couple hours throughout the nights to feed her electrolytes and water, clean up her soiled bedding and get her up on her feet using a sling my father constructed for that purpose.

I remember a conversation I had with my mother about praying for the baby goat. I thought maybe it was useless to try since it seemed to me that the Bible passage where Jesus talked about separating the sheep from the goats indicated that God preferred sheep over goats ... I wondered if I should take the passage literally and not bother asking God to heal my baby goat. My mother advised me to still pray and that I should not take that passage literally.

So I embarked on an earnest prayer journey. At first I was half scared to really trust that God would care about this "little thing" in my life. I wanted to be prepared in my heart, in case the goat would die, that it would still be OK ... I wouldn't blame God, but trust that there was a lesson for me somewhere in it. And yet, I kept telling God, "If you heal my little goat, it would be 100% clear that it was a miracle! Wouldn't that be great, God? Everyone is convinced the animal will die ... this is a perfect time to show your glory!!! If she lives and gets better, everyone will know it was only because of You! Wouldn't that be a great testimony to your love and power???"

Days turned into a week and then two weeks. It got to the point where she started eating again and crawling around on her knees. I was happpy with her progress, but was still wondering if she would every fully recover. Then one day as I walked back our long lane from the bus, I looked up into our yard and saw my little white goat walking and even trotting a bit toward me down the hill. Such a silly little thing, as I write about it, but it tuly was one of the biggest faith-boosters for me in my life!

Today I pray for opportune "little things," not so much because we can't live without the little things we pray for, but because I believe that it is often through little things that we learn to trust God in the big things. And how special to feel God's love and care for us! I especially pray when "little things" come up in the lives of other young people so that their experience can be a faith-boosting one where they learn to pray, trust and then give God the glory when He performs the "little miracles" that bring joy in life. Of course, ultimately the hope is that as young people journey through life, their faith, seasoned with experience and a deep trust in a caring God, will stand the tests and storms which inevitably will come.