Do Not Despise The Small Things

“For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10).

One of the persistent mistakes of human thinking is the assumption that significance must always be measured by size. We are naturally impressed by what is large, visible, dramatic, and immediately successful, while we are tempted to overlook the quiet duties, ordinary opportunities, small decisions, and seemingly insignificant acts out of which a faithful life is actually constructed. Yet God repeatedly teaches His people not to despise small things. The world itself is composed of particles too small for the unaided eye to see. Time advances by seconds, seconds become minutes, minutes become hours, hours become days, and days eventually constitute the span of an entire life. A mighty oak begins in an acorn that could be held in the palm of one's hand. In much the same way, spiritual character is ordinarily formed not by one spectacular moment, but by thousands of decisions that seemed relatively small when they were made. Zechariah therefore asked a penetrating question: “For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10). The returned remnant of Israel could easily compare their present circumstances with the former glory of the nation and become discouraged, but God was working through beginnings that appeared unimpressive. What seemed small to men was not insignificant to God.

Every day of life cannot be a climax, nor did God design life to consist entirely of extraordinary occasions. A person cannot graduate every day, marry every day, begin a new career every day, experience some monumental achievement every day, or stand at one of life's great crossroads every morning. There are days that become landmarks in our memories, but most days are ordinary days filled with ordinary responsibilities. Nevertheless, no day should be despised merely because nothing spectacular happened during it. The day a sinner repents and determines to obey the gospel is unquestionably a great day, but so is every subsequent day in which that Christian quietly remains faithful to the decision he made. Jesus said, “The one who is faithful in a very little thing is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10, NASB 2020). God frequently proves a person's ability to handle greater responsibilities by observing what he does with smaller ones. The man who dreams about what he would do if given some great opportunity while neglecting the duty presently before him has misunderstood the nature of faithfulness. Life is composed of little thoughts, little decisions, little words, and little deeds, and eventually those little things accumulate into character. We become what our repeated choices have been making us.

Small things are therefore important because small things possess the ability to produce consequences far beyond their apparent size. Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a mustard seed, emphasizing how something beginning in apparent insignificance could produce remarkable growth. James likewise illustrated the destructive power of the tongue by comparing it to a small fire capable of setting a great forest ablaze (James 3:5-6). A sentence may require only seconds to speak, yet its consequences may continue for decades. A few grievous words spoken in anger can begin an argument, destroy a friendship, deepen resentment within a marriage, provoke violence, or contribute to decisions that permanently alter several lives. The tongue itself is small, but no wise person therefore concludes that its influence is small. James reminds us that enormous consequences may proceed from something seemingly insignificant, and therefore Christians must learn to evaluate actions not merely according to their immediate size but according to the direction in which they lead.

The same principle explains the deceptive nature of sin. People rarely determine in a single moment to destroy their character, their marriage, their reputation, or their relationship with God. Ruin ordinarily proceeds by degrees. The first indulgence seems small, the first compromise appears manageable, the first dishonest act is excused as an exception, and the first surrender to temptation is dismissed as something that can easily be corrected later. A destructive addiction may begin with what seems like a small amount. Sexual immorality may begin with a supposedly harmless flirtation, an inappropriate conversation, or a thought that is deliberately entertained instead of rejected. Gambling may begin with a wager considered too insignificant to matter. Profanity may begin with a word repeated casually until corrupt speech becomes habitual. Lust may be fed by small streams until those streams combine into a river powerful enough to carry a person away. Sin understands the power of accumulation even when sinners do not. Satan does not always demand that a person leap immediately into the depths of wickedness; he is perfectly satisfied when someone simply takes another small step in the wrong direction.

This principle has an important application to the local church because congregations may be weakened by the neglect of matters that members consider too small to deserve serious attention. Friendliness may appear insignificant, but a visitor who enters an assembly and is warmly greeted may remember that kindness long after he has forgotten other details about the day. Hospitality may seem ordinary, but an invitation into a Christian home can strengthen fellowship, encourage a struggling member, and open opportunities for spiritual influence. Courtesy costs almost nothing, yet its absence can create unnecessary wounds. Peter instructed Christians to maintain proper conduct toward one another, and the spirit of Christian courtesy should permeate every relationship among God's people. Kindness toward children likewise matters. When the disciples attempted to prevent children from coming to Jesus, He said, “Leave the children alone, and do not forbid them to come to Me” (Matthew 19:14, NASB 2020). Kindness toward older Christians matters as well, for those who have spent years serving the Lord should never be treated as though age has rendered them useless or invisible.

Even assembling on time may appear to some people to be a small matter, but habits communicate priorities. Habitual carelessness concerning the assembly can reveal something about the place spiritual things occupy within our lives. A small contribution may appear insignificant when compared with the resources of someone wealthier, yet Jesus watched a poor widow place two small coins into the treasury and deliberately called attention to her sacrifice (Luke 21:1-4). The amount appeared small, but the faith behind it was great. Paul instructed Christians to prepare their giving regularly and purposefully in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, demonstrating that faithful stewardship is not reserved for those possessing considerable wealth. Even a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple is noticed by the Lord (Matthew 10:42). A small crowd should not cause Christians to conclude that worship, Bible study, prayer, or service has somehow become worthless. Jesus taught in Matthew 18:20 that the presence of only a few disciples does not render their devotion meaningless. Numbers may influence our emotions, but they do not determine whether truth is true, whether obedience is obedience, or whether faithful service is valuable before God.

Scripture repeatedly demonstrates that God can accomplish His purposes through things men would consider inadequate. Moses stood before the Red Sea with what appeared to be nothing more than a shepherd's staff in his hand, but the effectiveness of that rod did not reside in the wood; it rested in the power and command of God (Exodus 14). The lesson is not that ordinary objects contain miraculous power, but that human weakness does not limit divine providence. What matters is whether what we possess has been surrendered to God's service. A person may complain that he possesses only one talent, while forgetting that Jesus condemned the one-talent servant precisely because he refused to use what had been entrusted to him (Matthew 25:14-30). God never required that servant to possess five talents. He required him to be faithful with the one he had. The tragedy was not small ability but unused ability.

The same truth applies to Bible study. Someone may imagine that meaningful spiritual growth requires hours of study every day and therefore concludes that because he cannot presently devote several uninterrupted hours to Scripture, there is little purpose in studying at all. That reasoning is disastrous. Paul instructed Timothy, “Until I come, give your attention to the public reading, to exhortation, and teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13, NASB 2020), and continued by warning him not to neglect the gift and responsibilities entrusted to him. A comparatively small amount of serious, consistent Bible study practiced every day can accumulate into a substantial knowledge of Scripture over years. Fifteen or twenty minutes may appear insignificant on one particular morning, but multiply that practice across months and years and the result is very different. The Christian who steadily reads, studies, remembers, and applies Scripture is quietly building a reservoir of biblical knowledge from which he can draw when temptation comes, when suffering arrives, when questions are asked, and when opportunities to teach appear.

God has also repeatedly attached great consequences to apparently simple acts of obedience. Naaman was offended when Elisha instructed him to wash in the Jordan seven times because the command seemed beneath the dignity of the cure he expected. Yet when he finally humbled himself and obeyed, he was cleansed (2 Kings 5:1-14). The power was not in the Jordan River, nor was Naaman earning his cleansing by the physical difficulty of dipping himself in water. The issue was whether he would trust God enough to obey what God had commanded. The same principle appears when Jesus healed the blind man in John 9. Jesus made clay, applied it to the man's eyes, and commanded him to wash in the pool of Siloam. The man “went away and washed, and came back seeing” (John 9:7, NASB 2020). Neither clay nor water possessed independent miraculous power. The blessing came from Christ, but the man nevertheless had to obey Christ's command. God's grace and man's obedient response are not enemies. Faith trusts God enough to do what He says even when the commanded action appears small to human wisdom.

This is particularly important because many people spend their lives imagining what they would do under circumstances they do not presently possess. A man says that if he were wealthy, he would give generously to the Lord's work, while presently giving grudgingly from the smaller amount God has already placed in his hands. Yet the man who is unfaithful with little has given no reason to suppose that abundance would suddenly make him faithful. Another imagines that if he possessed Paul's opportunities he would preach courageously throughout the world, while refusing to teach the person sitting beside him. Some Christians should already have developed sufficiently to teach others, yet Hebrews 5:12 rebukes those who remain spiritually immature when time and opportunity should have produced growth. Dreaming about preaching to thousands is no substitute for teaching one person the gospel.

Consider Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. There was no enormous audience, no great auditorium, no impressive publicity campaign, and no crowd waiting to applaud the preacher. There was one teacher, one traveler, one chariot, one passage of Scripture, and one soul who needed to hear about Jesus. Philip did not despise the opportunity because the audience consisted of one man. Beginning with Isaiah, he preached Jesus to him, and when they came to water the eunuch desired to be baptized. One soul mattered because one soul possesses eternal value. The preacher who believes preaching is worthwhile only when the building is full has allowed human measurements to replace divine ones. If only one person needs the truth, then there is sufficient reason to preach it faithfully.

The same attitude sometimes appears in worship. Someone may say that he would sing enthusiastically if he possessed a beautiful voice, while allowing embarrassment about limited musical ability to silence his praise. Paul said, “I will sing with the spirit, but I will also sing with the mind” (1 Corinthians 14:15). God does not command only the musically gifted to sing. He commands His people to praise Him, and the value of that praise is not determined by whether every voice possesses professional quality. Another Christian may think he could accomplish something significant if only he had greater influence, greater resources, greater talent, or greater opportunity. Such thinking continually postpones service until circumstances become ideal, and ideal circumstances seldom arrive.

One of the simplest and most beautiful statements concerning Christian service occurs in Mark 14:8, where Jesus defended the woman who had anointed Him against those who criticized her action. He said, “She has done what she could” (NASB 2020). What an epitaph that would be for any faithful Christian. She had not done everything that could possibly be done. She had not possessed every ability. She had not solved every problem. She simply did what she could with the opportunity placed before her, and Christ regarded her action as worthy of remembrance. God does not require us to possess someone else's abilities, opportunities, money, influence, education, or circumstances. He requires faithfulness with what He has placed within our reach.

Therefore, do not despise the day when you hear only a simple biblical lesson. Do not despise the prayer meeting attended by only a handful of Christians. Do not despise the small Bible class, the quiet visit to someone who is lonely, the modest contribution, the brief conversation about Christ, the cup of cold water, the encouraging word, the child who asks a simple Bible question, or the elderly Christian who needs someone to sit beside him and listen. Do not despise fifteen minutes spent studying Scripture because you could not study for two hours. Do not despise the opportunity to teach one person because you had hoped to teach one hundred. Do not despise today's ordinary obedience while waiting for tomorrow's extraordinary opportunity.

Life is made up of small things, and eternity may turn upon them. Great character is built through repeated acts of ordinary faithfulness, while great ruin often begins through repeated acts of seemingly insignificant compromise. Churches become strong because Christians consistently perform duties that seldom attract attention. Souls are influenced by conversations that may never be remembered by anyone except the person who needed them. Knowledge grows through daily study. Generosity develops through regular giving. Fellowship grows through hospitality and kindness. Holiness develops through thousands of decisions to reject temptation before temptation has grown powerful. The Christian life is not merely a succession of great moments; it is a lifetime of faithfulness in moments that frequently appear small.

The question of Zechariah therefore deserves to confront every generation: “For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10, NASB 2020). We should never measure the importance of our service merely by its visibility, size, or immediate results. God has always been able to use small beginnings, limited resources, ordinary people, simple acts of obedience, and opportunities the world would overlook. Our responsibility is not to wait until we can do something spectacular. Our responsibility is to do faithfully what God has placed before us today. When the final accounting of life is made, we may discover that many things we considered small were never small in the sight of God.

Adapted from a sermon by the late Gus Nichols on “Small Things” (Nichols, Gus “Gus Nichols 50 Years Later “ drive)