No Big Deal

From the 9/14/16 Weekly Update by Tim Keller

As the Eastern Airlines flight 401 approached Miami on the night of December 29, 1972 the flight crew flipped the switch that would bring the landing gear into place in preparation for their arrival. The landing gear light didn’t come on.

The crew became so concerned about it that they lost track of the fact that the autopilot had been disengaged. The plane began a rapid descent culminating in a crash that killed 103 passengers.

The follow-up investigation revealed that the problem had been caused by an inexpensive light bulb burning out. For lack of a $2.00 light bulb more than one hundred people had lost their lives.

It’s the little things that impact us the most.

Though Hollywood will never make a blockbuster movie about a small thing (think Earthquake, Poseidon Adventure, Twister, etc.), it’s more likely the worst damage in life will be a small thing that is ignored or undervalued.

One needs only to turn to the pages of the Bible for support of this concept. In Luke 17 Jesus referred to the faith of a “mustard seed.” Micah 5 records that Bethlehem was the “smallest of the clans of Judah.” Yet, Jesus was born there. David was too small to be selected by Samuel; yet he was God’s choice to become King of Israel. James warns that the tongue is a small member of the human body, but possesses the potential to do great harm.

We are prone to bypass the little things in favor of the big things.

As parents we would never miss an important event like a graduation or wedding in favor of work, but how many smaller occasions, recitals, school plays and bedtimes get missed because they don’t register as “big.”

Our spiritual lives are impacted by the little things. Regular time with God can be easily devalued as long as we get the big things right. Yet, the absence of little things (meaningful prayer time, honest conversations and investment in a young person’s life) can cause us to crash and burn.

Holy Spirit’s ministry to us is, in part, to help us see the little things that are actually the big things.

May our eyes be open to see the cheap light bulbs in life that, though inexpensive, can potentially become murderous.