All week I’ve been picking up 10 cent pieces in the street, and yesterday there was a fatal accident near our town. It’s devastating to think of the heartache that the family must be going through. The 10 cent pieces just reminded me that we mustn’t sweat the small stuff because life is too short. It is so easy to make a mountain out of a molehill. Does the remark that someone makes that offends us really matter in the bigger scheme of things? Does it make sense to fight with our spouses over small things when we or they might be dead tomorrow? Should we be having sleepless nights over small things when life is so short?
A verse that has been surfacing over and over last week is Matthew 6:34, Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
We sometimes spend so much time on the negative and irrelevant things instead of focusing on how we can be a positive influence on people and how we can love people who are hurting. It’s easy to blow up small things into huge issues. It’s not so easy to look past them and love people.
1 Peter 4:7 – 11 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
Love covers a multitude of sins. We aren’t going to achieve anything by dwelling on the sins of others or by pointing them out. The only way we are effectively going to reach or influence people in a good way is by loving them. Love them in spite of their sins, loving them with their sins. Nobody, except Jesus is perfect, nobody ever was and nobody ever will be. Each one of us has a gift, a gift given to us by God and a gift that has been given to us to help others. Some gifts are plain to see and others are more subtle. There are preachers, prophets and evangelists who can influence thousands of people at a time. Others have the gift of encouragement and just being in their presence can make you feel better. Then there are others who can quietly show love and just keep loving people till they are able to accept themselves as they are.
The other thing that the 10 cent pieces show me is that we often discard and disregard small things and small opportunities. It’s easy to walk past someone who is looking sad instead of asking them if there’s a problem. It’s easy to ignore someone who looks like they’re having a hard time. People don’t want to get involved in the troubles of others. A word spoken at the right time can make a huge difference in someone’s life.
Proverbs 15:23 A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word spoken in due season, how good it is!
We need to be aware of the small things, the 10 cent pieces. The small things, the good small things and the bad small things. We need to consider them and act on them and not just discard and disregard them because they do matter.
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