The Big Story

I have a confession.
I like to watch the TV series "The Waltons". Our whole family does.
Not only do we have every single one of the nine seasons, but we also have gone through them a minimum of two times. :)

Anyway the reason I am randomly sharing this detail of my life is because while I was watching an episode a couple of months ago, there was something that one of the characters said that had such an immediate impact on me that I immediately wrote it down. I had forgotten about it until yesterday as I was going through some of my notes while on the field, driving the grain cart.
It spoke to me again (Hey, God can use whatever He wants to grab your attention... even the Waltons! :). Hence, the birth of this blog post.

The quote is this.

"Don't waste your life searching for that one big story that you are going to write; write the little stories, who knows, the sum total of them might be the big one."

Have you ever been so focused on finding that big story that you ignore all of the little ones that you could be writing? I am talking God stories. Opportunities to make a difference in this world and be used by God.

There was a time in my life that I could not take my focus off of searching for the big thing that God might be calling me to do. So intent was I on finding it, that I missed out on the little things.

This is what God has been teaching me recently.

Living for your life Jesus, writing your story, does not necessarily mean that you have to be serving as a missionary in a foreign country, or be on the front lines in the battle to bring people to Jesus. The pen does not have to be scratching tales of making a big splash in the ocean of difference making. 
I used to become very worried that I wasn't doing the big thing. I wasn't writing that one thousand page book in one big downpour of inspiration. And in being so worried that I wasn't doing the big thing for God, even if it wasn't going across the world to tell people about Him, but just something that was visible to me, I was not being at all attentive to writing those short stories.

Sometimes God has called us to do the little things. Sharing a smile with a stranger that you pass at the grocery store, giving a hug, saying a prayer for a friend, giving a cup of water to a child, even just living a life that reflects the love of God. All those little things that may seem to be insignificant, could actually be working together to create the big story that God wants to write for you.

I am not saying that I don't desire to be part of a big story, but it may not be what God has called me to do, and I don't want the searching to consume me. So I am learning to focus on the sentences. To be all for God that I can be in the season that I am in.

Today, remember that you cannot see the big picture, but God can. It is up to you and me to live every single moment for Him and to look for ways to be His hands and feet... even in the little things.

Write those short stories, who knows... one day you may look back and see that the small insignificant drop has created a ripple effect that has changed lives.
All we have to do is to commit ourselves to be used by Him every day, and watch Him create a best seller out of our lives.