For the want of a nail, a shoe was lost; for the want of a shoe, a horse was lost; for the want of a horse, a rider fell; for the want of a rider, a battle was lost; for the want of a battle, a nation was lost; all for the want of a nail.

Author Unknown

And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish." And directing the crowd to sit down on the ground, He took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks He broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.

Matthew 15:34-38, ESV

In these two examples, we have small things. In the first we see that the lack of a small thing had big consequences. In the second we see that the willingness to use the small things available resulting in something that was nothing short of miraculous.

What do you think about that? Can small things really make that big of a difference? Experience tells us this is so. An oil plug is a small things compared to a brand new, four hundred and fifty horsepower racing engine, but forget to put that plug back in after changing the oil and just see how long that engine will run. On the other hand, I have heard of a person who was stranded on the side of the road because of a broken fan belt,  but who was able to save themself from untold consequence for the simple fact that they had an extra pair of nylons in their luggage and used that in the place of the fan belt to make it back to the nearest town.

But the most wonderful thing about small things is that God can use them to create big things. For example, I attended a Christian College that required chapel attendance every morning. You could have ten unexcused chapel absences before they started fining you. One young man in particular had been fined in the past for such deplorable behavior, so he showed up at chapel one bright morning. On that same morning, a beautiful young lady was also present. This was not always the case because she had excused absences for working, so she often could not be present. 

No big deal, I know, but because of the two small coincidence, this deplorable young man and this beautiful young lady bumped into each other after the chapel services and started talking. 42 years later we have three beautiful children and seven even more beautiful grandchildren. 

But even more wonderful than that is when a Christian has a friend who is not a Christian and decides to do something about it. So he bravely decides to try and influence his friend and says something like, "Would you like to come to church with me?" And though 99 times out of a hundred, people will say no to such an invitation, sometimes they will say yes. And sometimes that's all it takes for a person to hear the truth, become convicted in their heart, and then do their part to take advantage of the Lord's invitation to the salvation of their eternal soul.

You may think this is a small thing, but I know of a man who was an alcoholic who moved into a new neighborhood with his wife and children. A neighbor whose heart went out to that family started talking to the man about Jesus. For some reason the man responded and eventually became a Christian. His boys grew up and became very successful preachers, with a particular talent for reaching out to others and bringing them to Christ.

But how can such a small thing matter? What difference can asking a neighbor if they would like to learn more about Christ possibly make? Well, I hope the answer to that is obvious. When we are willing to do our small part, God can do something really, really big. So I will leave you with this question on this particular fine morning: Are you willing to do your small part?