Find joy in the days of small things!
Lately God has just been showing up and calling me OUT y’all! He has showed me how hard of a time I have truly trusting him, like the kind of trusting Him that actually goes beyond just saying it, allowing it to seep into my heart and live it out. In the midst of finals, and all the other stresses I’ve been facing I have truly felt the Lord showing me, bringing me back to moments where I have either trusted in His plans and timing or not, and allowing me to see the extremely evident difference between the two options. God has wrecked me, in the process of putting me back together and I refuse to sit here and say that it has been all good and that I have seen and felt the Holy Spirit the entire time, because I haven’t. It has been sad, lonely and even self deprecating at times, and man, IT HAS BEEN HARD! At the same time though, when I take a moment to listen for that still small whisper, even when it doesn’t clearly depict a step by step plan to joy and happiness, God reminds me of the importance to spend time with HIm, He calls me into communion with Him.
In the midst of that time, a time that sometimes looks like a beautiful praise, and other times it looks like me breaking down, sobbing and yelling at God, He showed me- Zechariah 4:10, Who dares despise the day of small things?- when it hit me, I do. I despise the days and seasons of my life that seem almost stuck or stagnant, and even moreso, I’d say I’m afraid of them. I get freaked out when I don’t feel the presence of the Holy Spirit because it makes me question myself and my relationship with Jesus. But, WHO THE FREAK AM I TO SAY GOD, and my relationship with Him are not steadfast and firm because I may not be feeling Him in a way that I once have.
God is not a god of big moments- because NOTHING IS BIG TO GOD!
*note: Ephesians 3:20-21
So, if nothing is big to God, because He is so much bigger than it all, who are we to not praise and find glory and wonder in what we may classify as small. So, if nothing is big, nor small to God, who says He cannot do radical stuff through what seems small and mundane to us in this moment. Also, in all reality, looking back on my life, some of the coolest, most impactful moments were really just a string of connected small moments in life.
In this verse, God has convicted me in seeking out, actively searching for joy and glory in the midst of school, job searching and whatever other stress of the week I am facing. And lemme tell you, it has made a HUGE impact. God has made me open my mind, loosening my grip and truly finding freedom over and over again. This is so essential because I so frequently attempt to turn this into a checklist of things that I can do to make God proud. Like what? So this freedom is seriously GOOD y’all! God reminds me that I have absolutely NO power over my life. And that does not have to be a root of frustration, but can be a root of freedom and fun, because God is a god of spontaneity, goodness and FULL JOY- even in the days of small things.
So, these pictures are just some examples of the really stelar “small things” that I get to do. Living so close to the Grand Canyon and so many other natural glories, I often forget about their glory and wonder until I am back there, staring God in the face in the midst of His creation. The fact that I can even consider this a small thing is so freaking stellar, that I can wake up and drive to watch the sunrise at the Grand Canyon with some of my sweet friends is so freaking cool! God shows up not only in the evidence of His intentionality and power, but in the sweetness of relationships, of a car full of girls sing-screaming along to carried jams while being excessively sleep deprived, that right there is such a blessing, such a sweet moment of God’s grace and grandeur. He showed up in this day (today) of “small things” where I could turn a day with really no plans, to one started off right and continued productivity and zeal.
Additionally, this passed week at wyldlife I was able to bring one of my roommate’s cameras and just get to capture some of the sweet, sweet moments we get to share together. Like, this is something I do every single week, it is something that can begin to feel as a part of my routine, but wow the opportunity to have a visible and tangible representation of the joy developed, that is so special. I got to capture a simple movie night into so, so, so much more, being able to freeze those deep belly laughs, the popcorn and hot chocolate stuffed faces and just overall crazy/ goofiness from and with my sweet middle school friends, that is SPECIAL, even though it was really just another day of strung together small things.
God is really cool y’all and it’s really cool that the standards we attempt to grasp life with, the lens we view everything out of is genuinely irrelevant to God. He may see that big life step you decide to take as a mere stepping stone, but that coffee you grab with a friend, or that smile you share with a stranger- those could be the seriously impactful and life changing moments. So don’t look passed those. Look for God’s face in all that you do, not just His hands (what he can do for you/ give to you) but who He is at the core (how He can grow, mold and form you through the depth you know Him).
Remember: you are loved and claimed as better and more crucial to this universe than the Grand Canyon or anything else you could think of.
|| ZECHARIAH 4:10 ||
|| Ephesians 3:20-21 ||