The Day of Small Things

For far too long it seems, I searched life’s receding horizons for “days of significance,” the kind when financial goals are met, career positions reached, or longed-for relationships born. Then all would be well, I thought. Yet it was a very different kind of day, a plainly unremarkable one, when it dawned on me that life is chiefly a collection of simple days, each with its own DNA yet very much like most others. After all, how many times in life do we earn a degree, land the new job, or find our heart’s love? We call them “momentous occasions” for a reason: though exciting and savored, they are also few and brief. We do well to celebrate them while they last.

Most of our calendar pages are of the seemingly inconsequential variety, or what God through the prophet Zechariah called, “the day of small things” (Zechariah 4:10 NASB). We marginalize them, but the truth of the matter is, these are where life is truly lived, where hands are held and loved ones hugged, where kindnesses warm the grateful heart and compassions comfort the deepest pain. Mementos from these every-days accent our homes and overflow our scrapbooks with the unlikeliest of treasures, but richest—pre-school handprints, Senior Play programs, and first-love rose petals. Here also is where God prunes us for growth, paring back pride so humility may grow and lopping off foolishness to make way for wisdom. Perseverance eventually pushes up through life’s difficult dirt, and a million fears finally wither before a time-tested God.

In the grace of God, these days of small things coalesce into a lifework far exceeding the splendor of any single moment—indeed all of them—we once thought significant. They usher us reliably through an existence of meaning and purpose, for through the collection of them we mature and bear fruit for eternity—some of which we are already aware and far more to be revealed in an age yet to come. In awe, then, we bear witness to God in worship rising from a deeper depth and praise reaching to a higher height, for we have seen His wisdom, beauty and faithfulness shine most brightly through “days of small things,” which, together, are no small thing at all.

Father, we praise you. How great is your goodness, and how unsearchable your wisdom! Mold us all our days into the image of your Son, and be happy with our wondrously transformed lives. The glory is yours forever. In Jesus’ name, Amen.