The Power of the Very Small

Part of the package of pastoring is that things like kidney stones become a lot more public than for other folks. And I have appreciated your expressions of care and concern that have come with it.

Being a novice in the whole stone thing, I am learning what many of you have already shared - especially the phenomenal amount of pain that can be caused by something so small. I was reduced to a curled ball of writhing whining in pursuit of only one thing - relief. A 2mm mineral pellet took down a 175-lb man. The power of the very small.

This reminds me of James 3:1-12, which speaks of the power of the tongue - like a small rudder, it can cause an entire ship to change directions. Entire lives can be changed by a spoken word. Indeed, wars have been started by the power of the tongue. The power of the very small.

Sin is the same way - even the "small" ones can take you down! We have the mistaken notion that small sins are less dangerous to our souls. They may be less dangerous in the impact they have on others - stealing candy poses less danger to the victim than taking a bat to his kneecaps. But that doesn't mean that selling out your character for candy poses less danger to your soul than selling out your character to get violent revenge. Both eat away at your inner being with the same voracious appetite. "Small" sins can destroy us as readily as the "big" ones. The power of the very small.

But Jesus also talks positively of the power of the very small. He says in Luke 17:5-6 that even the faith of a mustard seed has the power to move mountains. Frequently, Jesus refers to little children as the models of the kind of faith that we can have. Even the Kingdom of God is likened to a mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds, but grows into one of the largest plants in a typical garden in Jerusalem. Not one single Christian should feel too small (or too young, too weak, too inexperienced, too uneducated, too whatever) to be used mightily in God's kingdom. All it takes is the faith of a mustard seed. The power of the very small.

Just like a little kidney stone can take out a grown man, your faith can move mountains. Abdominable pain will forever remind me of what even a little faith can do.