Faithful in Small ThingsSpeaker: Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran Gist: When you are faithful in small matters entrusted to you, in your jobs, in your responsibilities, in handling the belongings of others, God will notice your faithfulness; He will raise you higher. Paul was a man who persecuted the early Christians cruelly. Lord Jesus transformed him to be His apostle and chose Paul to be a prophet to spread his ministry far and wide and to gain more souls to be members of the heavenly kingdom. Apostle Paul writes, "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." (1 Timothy 1:12)
As soon as the Lord appeared to him in a vision and told him that he was His chosen vessel (Acts 9:15), Paul began to preach the Christ in the synagogues, that Jesus Christ was the Son of God (Acts 9:20). God did not make Paul a great apostle overnight. He began his race only by sharing his testimony with others. Days and years passed by. On seeing Paul's faithfulness, God made him a prophet (Acts 13:1). He gave him the gift of prophecy and made him a great preacher (Acts 19:9,10). History says that for two years he stayed in Ephesus and preached the Word of God daily from morning till evening.
See what a great ministry this was. If he were to study and research the Bible for two years and preach to others, how great must have been his knowledge and wisdom. God gave him such wisdom, because he had been faithful in the ministry he began. And so the Lord raised him to be an apostle (1 Corinthians 9:1,5; 2 Corinthians 12:12; 1 Timothy 2:7). In the end he became transformed as unto Christ. God led him into such an exalted experience. That is why Paul says, "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus"(Galatians 6:17).
I know a servant of God who had the great privilege of seeing heavenly visions. Once the gracious Lord blessed him with a vision of Apostle Paul. He saw him not as an imposing person, but a short feeble person. But he bore the marks of Christ. His body was different from that of others. He said, "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church"(Colossians 1:24).
In heaven, God has given him a privilege, which is probably denied to others. It seems when Paul came to heaven, Lord Jesus said, "Let the wounds and scars which he received in flesh for my sake remain in his spiritual body also. It seems that all those wounds are represented exactly in his body. It was all because Paul was so faithful in his testimony, preaching, prophecy and apostolic ministry.
My dear beloved friend, when we are faithful in the small matters entrusted to us, in our jobs, in our responsibilities, in handling the belongings of others. God notices it. He would say, "Let Me raise him higher. Let Me grant him grace to win still more souls, still more riches that he may need." So, let us learn to be faithful like Paul. Let us plead, "Lord, grant me grace to be faithful in the limited responsibilities given to me and in my spiritual life." God will then raise us also accordingly.
Prayer:
Precious Heavenly Father,
Lord, You have entrusted to me certain responsibilities. Give me the strength and grace to accomplish them without any trouble or disturbances. Help me to be faithful in smaller things that are handed over to me. You, be my guide and teach me how to be responsible in small things in my life. Lord, grant me grace to be faithful in the limited responsibilities given to me and in my life. In Jesus precious name, I pray.
Amen. |