God delights in using things others think are insignificant. The stories of the Bible emphasize this over and over again. He used a ruddy shepherd boy to slay a blasphemous giant with a few stones and a crude sling. He used a donkey to speak a word of rebuke to a wayward prophet. He chartered a big fish to deliver a reluctant missionary to his appropriate mission-field. He called a teenaged mother to nurture the Messiah. I think he is still doing this. Maybe the first qualification to be used of God is a continual conscious awareness of our personal inadequacy. David must have had a sense of this standing out under the stars one night. He said; “When I consider the heavens the work of thy fingers, the moon and stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him…” We are small in the scope of God’s creation, but a small thing can be mighty in the hands of God.
Children are an example of this. An elderly couple lived in the village where I once pastored. The gentleman was a childhood friend of my grandfather so I loved to talk to him and glean memories of my family years ago. His name was Russell and his wife was Paulene. They received me warmly and treated me kindly when I called and I regularly invited them to visit our church but they had never darkened its door.
One day an idea came to my mind. We had Friend Day at church. The idea is simple. On Friend Day everyone is to bring one friend to church. If everyone participated Friend Day would be a record-breaking day with twice the usual number in attendance.
I wanted Russell and Paulene to come but they had always rejected my invitations. Kyle, our oldest son, was about six or seven at the time. He was asking me to help him find a friend. I thought of Russell and Paulene. I coached Kyle on what to say.
I said; “Kyle, when we get in there I am going to tell them that you have a question for them. Then I want you to tell them that we are having Friend Day at church and that everyone is supposed to bring a friend. Tell them you don’t have a friend for friend day. Then say; ?will you be my friend?’ Then have them sign the little paper promising to be your friend.”
“Kyle,” I said, “When you ask the question look at Paulene, because I think she is the one who will make the decision.”
We drove to their house and they invited us in. We set down and made small talk for a while and then I said; “Well, I’ll tell you why we came today. Kyle has a question for you. Kyle, go ahead.”
He started quietly and said; “Um, we are having Friend Day at our church. Everybody is supposed to bring a friend but I don’t have a friend to bring. Will you be my friend?” He stopped and his big eyes searched Paulene’s face. She quickly said, “Kyle we’ll be your friends. Give me that paper. She boldly signed her name and she was as good as her world. On Friend Day they were two of over 300 people that packed our little village church and they returned over and over again throughout our ministry there. I’m sure they would never have come if a little child hadn’t asked them. God used a little boy to do what no one else could do. That is just the way he works.
If he will use a big fish and a small boy and a donkey and a teenage girl he will use you, too. You never know what God might have in mind for you. It’s a good thing to be a small thing in the hands of a big God.