The Father Who Notices Little Things

Some time ago, I came across a book by Francis Schaeffer entitled “No Little People, No Little Places.” I was intrigued by the phrase, as it pointed to a powerful dimension of the value system of the Kingdom of God – that little things matter. We see it theoretically in the Scriptures, where we read of God as a Father who notices even when sparrows fall, and we are encouraged to translate that fact to how much more significant we are to Him than sparrows are.

However, there come points in our lives when the Father, through a variety of means, helps us with that translation, and the truth becomes personal and even life-changing. I had one of those experiences this week, and I want to share it with you, in the hope it might be encouraging to you as well.

My wife Marie and I were participating in a ministry time that was focused on prosperity in our souls, and how that prosperity of soul might affect financial matters in our experience. Steve DeSilva, who was leading the ministry time, directed me to close my eyes, and to ask the Holy Spirit to bring some past experience to my mind that may have had effect on how I view prosperity and wealth. Immediately, a remembered a time when I, at the age of about 7 or 8 years, had brought a little bouquet of flowers to my Mom for Mother’s Day. I had saved my allowance (25 cents a week back then!) and spent it on the little bunch of blossoms.

As I remembered my Mom’s response, the emotion of the decades-old memory welled up, and I felt the disappointment as she told me that my Dad had already gotten her flowers, and I shouldn’t spend the money, but should return the bouquet and get my money back. As I think about it from my adult perspective, she wasn’t being mean; she was actually not wanting me to spend money on her. But in the moment, through a child's limited perspective, I felt that my gift was not important.

As I shared the story, tears ran down my cheeks, and I realized that I had formed opinions about God in that moment that were not true. Steve asked me to look around the room in my memory, to see where God the Father was in the picture. I “saw” Him take my young face in His hands, smile, and say this: “I saw what you did, and it was precious to Me.”

Suddenly, I realized in a more deeply personal way that little things matter to God. A fifty-cent bouquet is nothing, but when given with a heart of love, it matters. God sees, and knows, and moves heaven and earth to make resources available to little people in little places who desire to express the giving heart that is native to the family of God.

Here’s my prayer for you today: Know that your Father in Heaven is watching, not to scold or rebuke, but to see and notice and pay attention to you, for you are His, and you are precious. The little stuff of your life matters, so may the Holy Spirit lock that truth in your heart, and give you peace and joy.

Gary Wiens

The Power of the Tongue

Proverbs 18:20-21 A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled. 21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

In these two short verses from the Book of Proverbs, we have a most important key to the secret place of well-being in our personal lives and ministry. All too often I have tried to pick up the pieces of my own broken heart, or attempted to assist others in getting themselves together again after a negative encounter with another person’s acid tongue. Let me try to unpack these verses just a bit, and then give a key principle from the life of Jesus that – if implemented – will set us free from the tyranny of other people’s unrighteous opinions.

The first point that the writer of the Proverb makes is that our stomach – in this case, our place of nourishment for the soul – will be sated, completely filled, with the fruit of our mouth. What we speak concerning ourselves will absolutely affect the health and prosperity of our souls. The power of the tongue is that it carries life or death to us, and whatever words we “love,” or eat constantly, will bear their fruit in us. If we love words of life, then there will be life-giving fruit. If we constantly feed on words of death – criticism, self-hatred, demands of perfection, rejection, abandonment – the fruit borne in us will be deadly.

In James’ apostolic letter to the Body of Christ, he lets us know that not only do words have power, they have the awesome effect of setting the course of life on fire! The words we speak and the words we receive are a big deal!

One of the most important disciplines we can embrace is the discipline of discerning which words we will feast on. There are a couple of sentences in the Scripture, spoken by Jesus and echoed by His disciples, that help us here.

In John 6:63, Jesus says “The words I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” Since we know from John 8:28 that Jesus only speaks what He hears from the Father, we can be confident that Jesus’ words are always gracious, empowering us to live the life He has for us. Learning to love the words that agree with what God speaks, and learning to reject every word that contradicts God’s opinion is certain to bear the good fruit of life, not death. Peter echoed those words moments after Jesus spoke them when he said “You have the words of eternal life.” Peter knew that even if Jesus’ words made him momentarily uncomfortable, the long-term fruit of eating them would be life for his soul.

Jesus Himself had to exercise this discipline as well. In the early days of His ministry, everyone was excited about Him, and was praising Him (see John 2:23-25). However, Jesus gave those words no power, because He knew that if He gave their positive words power in His soul now, their negative and condemning words later would have power to wound Him. So, He did not entrust Himself to them – in other words, He gave their words no power in His life. He only gave the voice of the Father the power to affect His well-being.

The key thing here is this: Whose words will you love? Will you feast on the changing words of other people that have come in your childhood, or even more recently, words that may be positive or negative, but are not necessarily in line with the Father’s righteous words? Or, will you feast only on words that agree with what God thinks and says over you? Even His words of correction, painful in the moment, bear the fruit of life to those who love Him and His word.

May the Holy Spirit grant you great grace to discern the Father’s voice, to give power only to words that agree with His heart, and to enjoy the eternal fruit of life that comes from the power of His voice.