Become President. Be a billionaire. Become a music star. Pastor a mega-church. It’s flashy accomplishments like these that we tend to categorize as “big” things. But what about the ordinary daily unnoticeables?

How much do they matter? More than we often realize.

This summer, Cassidy, Wallace, and I transitioned to a new season, leaving the tour bus for a quieter life. Even though I’m not doing as many “big things,” I’ve realized that I still carry big responsibilities.

No matter what season of life we’re in, we’re called to steward every sphere of life for God’s glory, even when few around us notice.

Today, we’ll discuss three reasons why the little things matter most. 

The Little Things Are What Life Is Made Up Of

God and family are arguably two of our most important priorities. But they’re not immediately visible to others. Just because someone can’t see you pray, memorize scripture, exercise, play with your children, or share the gospel with your neighbor, doesn’t mean those things aren’t important.

Consider Eli’s life. Eli did big things well. Definitions for his name include, “high or elevated.” He was Israel’s high priest who judged Israel forty years. Yet ultimately, the Lord didn’t measure Eli by how many people he ministered to.

The Lord judged him for his failure in what some would call a “little thing”–his sons. Here’s what God said, “For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not” (I Samuel 3:13). By God’s standards, Eli’s life was not a true success.

Little Things Prepare Us For Bigger Things 

Think of it in terms of a play. There’s a front-stage and a backstage. The theater attendees only see the actors on the stage. But what about all the time those actors took to memorize their lines, rehearse their parts, and fine-tune their costumes? What about the set and prop creation? Are those activities worthwhile since they can’t be seen?

Psalm 70:70-72 says, “He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.”

In summary, God prepared David in the sheepfold. David had to first shepherd sheep before he could shepherd a nation. For David, the front-stage act of kingship represented the culmination of the mundane backstage activity of tending sheep.

Luke 6:10-12 reminds us, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”

Any Little Thing Is Big, If Done For Jesus

What is our definition of “big?” Is “big” defined by how many people are immediately impacted? Man’s standard measure is numbers; God’s standard is obedience. It’s enough to be faithful because we serve Him. 

Paul sums up this idea well in Colossians 3:23-24: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

Naaman struggled with a wrong definition of “big,” and almost remained a leper. After Naaman disdained to wash in the muddy Jordan, his servants appealed to him. “My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? (2 Kings 5:13).

Are we willing to do the “little” things or just the “big” things?

Lasting Fulfillment

True fulfillment is found in obeying God’s simple commands everyday, even when no one notices.

America’s root problem is that her citizens, starting with you and me, have not been faithful in the little things. We can’t place all the blame on the big bad government. It’s you and it’s me. We’ll only see mass revival (big thing), when we individually begin to seek God and live in faithful obedience to Him (little things). At first, those around us may not see it notice, but God always does.

Question: What most important little things do we tend to neglect?