Easily Excitable

It is easy to know the big things- 

These we can all see.

How many kids you have, 

Your favorite sports team,

Your name, relationship status, and

(Of course)

Do you enjoy Disney? 

The big is visible,

Discernible, knowable, 

Shallowly searchable.

But the small? 

Not so much.

What a valley between the big and the small- 

The available and what we cannot see. 

Some things Facebook can’t tell us: 

What type of mayonnaise do you like best? 

Would you prefer 48 degree weather 

Or a warm 98? 

Do you take naps?  

What is your trick

When the jar lid is stuck? 

Do you drive before the windshield defrosts 

Or crank it up with time to wait? 

This things only proximity can tell.

Small details

Seemingly inconsequential,

And yet

They make up a person- 

They make up a life. 

I once thought of God as 

God of the big things: 

The universe and the cosmos, 

The whale and the wide open spaces, 

Redwoods, elephants, the sky.

And I do- 

I do still believe this.

Enormous, expansive, eternal- 

That is our God. 

But all the more, I am convinced

Our God is God of the Small Things. 

Do nature and our own bodies not

scream 

the glory of God- 

That He is rather disposed toward the small things? 

Our bodies declare His diligence with details, 

The heavens testify His time given to the tiny.

The God of the Small things: 

He who knit together the world with electrons and protons, 

Constructing it all from invisible atoms.

He who sprinkled the bottom of the Nile with rounded pebbles, 

Sunk down in silt.

He who paints whorls into the tips of our fingers, 

Each one different in its design.

Who else would protect our eyes with lashes

Or paint infinitesimal lines to show our age? 

Who else would dream that one cell could grow 

To be six feet tall? 

And have you ever seen a baby’s fingernails? 

He’s the God of the Small

The God of the Details. 

He is the God of the Small Things

The only One who could take

A three letter word: yes-

Or, even smaller, 

A two letter word: no- 

And from them, build a fortress.  

A yes whispered to a calling, 

A no mumbled to that which would kill.

Can He not use the least of these? 

Can He not use them for a foundation- 

The kingdom He is building with our lives? 

The yeses are the bricks- 

The nos are the mortar:

Seemingly inconsequential,

Definitely difficult,

But vital for what He has in mind. 

He is the God of the Small Things:

And what a wonder He can do with one step. 

One step, 

The first step- 

our first inch forward when we would prefer to stay in place

or even 

tuck tail and turn back- 

Can He not use this step for the journey of a lifetime? 

Oh, what a Mighty God who is the God of the small things. 

He is the God of the Small Things

To Him alone we can say, 

“You are familiar with all my ways.”

Every quirk, every habit, every routine, 

He is familiar as only the Creator can be.

Into my being, He painted

Excitement over Kroger sales papers, 

An affinity for mustard and ketchup on salads, 

The pattern of sleeping on my side. 

Before time began, He was aware 

That I would prefer socks to bare feet.

God, You know me: 

You know the big- 

the easy to see. 

And yet, equally so, you know

The tiny details,

Undetectable to the human eye. 

The God of the Small Things

So often, I see Him in the big because, 

Well, 

That is I am looking: 

In the tumor that vanished,

The marriage that healed,

The baby who lived. 

Yes, indeed: 

You are the God of the big. 

But, what amazes me all the more? 

That this big God-

Who filled the ocean,

Created the coral reef,

Cares about my small things. 

The encouragement at just the right time

(when no one could have known I needed it),

The times the budget stretched

(when, according to the math, it shouldn’t have),

The scheduling conflicts that naturally resolved

(when I most needed them to),

The teenage word of kindness

(when nothing else seemed to be going right).

Yes, I am amazed by the big, 

But, all the more,

I am in awe of the small- 

In awe of the God of the Small Things. 

The God of the Small Things 

The Knot at the end of our rope.

When all of your momentum 

is shooting down,

how interesting that a knot, 

big or small,

can slow you- 

maybe even save your life.

The God of the Small Things

The Painter outside of time

Who intricately blends together 

All things

For the good of those who love Him. 

Yes, the big, but also? 

The small. 

Because, really, oftentimes,

isn’t that what holds together the big? 

Zechariah 4:10: “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone[a] in the hand of Zerubbabel?”