Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Start Small
"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much."
—Luke 16:10
I have found that if you want to be used by God, you have to be willing to do the little things first. When I went to Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa and volunteered my services to Pastor Chuck Smith, I was 19 years old (and I did have hair). I said, "Pastor Chuck, I want to be used by God. I will do whatever you want me to do around here." I initially believed that he might ask me to take one of the midweek services and start preaching.
Instead, he said, "I have a man I want you to talk t Pastor Romaine." Now I didn't know who Pastor Romaine was at that point, but I quickly learned. A former drill sergeant in the Marine Corps, Pastor Romaine seemed to take special delight in whipping young guys like me into shape. My job was to do janitorial work, which involved a lot of sweeping and was strictly on a volunteer basis. I remember thinking, Wait a second! I thought they would let me serve the Lord. And they were.
Effectively, they were saying, "Be faithful in the little things, and if you aren't, then we aren't going to give you anything else to do." So I faithfully went about the tasks they set before me, and in time, they let me do Bible studies, usually in places where no one else wanted to go. I preached in some pretty interesting locations, including mental institutions. I would make hospital calls. I would visit convalescent homes. I would go wherever they allowed me to go. I was anxious to do what I could to serve God.
We have to be willing to do the little things, because we can never be too small for God to use, only too big.
Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org
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