You Don’t Have to Do Something Big for God to Use You

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I think sometimes we accidentally make calling sound enormous.

When we hear the words “God has a purpose for your life,” we imagine something big.

A ministry.

A platform.

A microphone.

A book.

A mission trip.

Thousands of people listening.

Something that makes everyone around us say:

“Wow. God is really using them.”

But what if some of the most important things you ever do for the Kingdom of God are things almost nobody notices?

What if following your calling sometimes looks incredibly ordinary?

We Have a Different Definition of “Big”

Our world measures impact with numbers.

How many people followed?

How many people watched?

How many people showed up?

How many people know your name?

But Jesus never seemed particularly interested in popularity.

He noticed individuals.

He stopped for people everyone else walked past.

He welcomed children.

He touched the hurting.

He spoke with the rejected.

He washed feet.

Jesus showed us over and over again that one person matters.

And maybe we’ve been so busy asking God to give us something big to do that we’ve overlooked the person He already placed in front of us.

Maybe This

Is

the Big Thing

Maybe you won’t preach to thousands.

But maybe you’ll sit beside one teenager who desperately needs an adult to listen.

Maybe you won’t start a huge ministry.

But maybe you’ll volunteer every week and make one child feel safe, loved, and excited to learn about Jesus.

Maybe you’ll never have a massive platform.

But maybe you’ll send a text to someone at exactly the moment they were wondering whether anybody cared.

Maybe you’ll raise children who love Jesus.

Maybe you’ll pray faithfully for someone for twenty years.

Maybe you’ll cook a meal.

Open a door.

Stay after everyone leaves to clean up.

Remember someone’s name.

Invite someone to church.

Sit with someone who’s hurting.

And maybe Heaven looks at some of those moments very differently than we do.

Faithfulness in the Small Things

Jesus says in Luke 16:10:

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much…”

I’ve been thinking about that.

Because I think sometimes we’re waiting for God to give us the big assignment while He’s asking:

Will you be faithful with this one?

This conversation.

This person.

This opportunity.

This ordinary Tuesday.

We don’t need to wait until our lives look important before we start living for God.

The little things are part of the calling too.

You May Never Know What God Did With Your Yes

That’s one of the beautiful—and difficult—things about serving God.

We don’t always get to see the results.

You might encourage someone today and never know how badly they needed those words.

You might teach a child something about Jesus that they remember thirty years from now.

You might pray for someone without ever knowing how God moved in their life.

You might show kindness to someone who had quietly been asking God for a reason to keep going.

We plant seeds.

God handles what happens underground.

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:6:

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”

What freedom there is in that.

I don’t have to make the seed grow.

I just have to be willing to plant it.

Your Life Doesn’t Have to Look Impressive

Maybe you feel like everybody else is doing more for God than you are.

Someone else has the ministry.

Someone else knows the Bible better.

Someone else speaks beautifully.

Someone else seems more qualified.

Someone else has the audience.

But God didn’t accidentally give you your life.

Your personality.

Your gifts.

Your relationships.

Your opportunities.

Your little corner of the world.

You don’t need someone else’s calling to be useful to God.

You just need to be faithful with yours.

Just Give Him What You Have

There’s a story in John 6 that I absolutely love.

Thousands of people need to eat, and a boy has five small barley loaves and two fish.

That’s it.

Compared to the need in front of him, what he has seems almost laughably small.

But he gives it to Jesus.

And Jesus does what only Jesus can do.

I think there’s something beautiful there for us.

Maybe what you have feels small.

Your ability.

Your influence.

Your time.

Your resources.

Your knowledge.

Your courage.

Give it to Jesus anyway.

Small becomes something entirely different in the hands of God.

So Start With What’s in Front of You

You don’t need to change the entire world today.

Love the person in front of you.

Pray the prayer.

Send the message.

Serve where you’re needed.

Encourage someone.

Open your Bible.

Tell somebody about Jesus.

Show kindness when it would be easier not to.

Be faithful when nobody applauds.

And then tomorrow?

Do it again.

Maybe you’ll never know the full impact of your life this side of Heaven.

That’s okay.

Because the goal was never for everyone to know our names.

The goal is for our lives to point people toward His.

You don’t have to do something big for God to use you.

Just give Him your yes.

And let Him decide how big it becomes. 

A Prayer

Father,

Sometimes I look at what other people are doing and wonder whether my life is making enough of a difference.

Help me stop measuring my purpose by the world’s definition of success.

Show me the people and opportunities You’ve already placed in front of me.

Make me faithful in the little things.

Give me a willing heart when You ask me to serve, love, encourage, pray, or simply show up.

And when what I have to offer feels small, remind me that small things placed in Your hands can accomplish more than I could ever imagine.

Use my life however You choose.

Amen.

Reflection Question

What’s one “small” thing God has placed in front of you that you can be faithful with today?