Every little thing has the potential to grow into something big only if you know how to care for it. It depends on your organizational skills and ability to pay attention to small things.
Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."
Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."
John 6:10-14
Jesus performed a great miracle: He fed five thousand people with two small fishes and five loaves of bread. That was really a miracle! Yet, the most amazing thing in this story is that Jesus did not attach any importance to it. He did not talk big about this great miracle He had performed, as an ordinary man would do. He simply overlooked this exceedingly great event.
As soon as he finished feeding the people, He drew His congregation’s attention away from the miracle to the fragments of the bread left over and the remnants of the fish. It is absolutely amazing! Jesus, the great miracle worker, few moments after performing such a staggering miracle said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost".
Here, He was concerned about the fragments of food that had been left over after the meal! He could simply rework His miracle in order to have whole loaves over again. The question is why did He need those leftovers? What message does He want to communicate through this?
God gave us the answer in this sentence: "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost". The emphasis here is ‘that nothing is lost’. Our Lord treats everything He has created with great care, despite the fact that He has the power to work miracles within the twinkle of an eye. Yet, He is still concerned that nothing be lost. He had provided food for five thousand people, yet He was also concerned about saving the fragments that were left over.
Then, why does God draw our attention to these fragments? To human understanding, these fragments are insignificant details hardly worth caring for. But Jesus teaches us by this case in point to learn to do as He did and focus our attention on the small things in life: in our personal relationship with God, family life and in our ministries.
A lot depends on the small things. A person’s attention is usually taken up by bigger, more noticeable things. Many people do not like turning their attention on small things. They do not like doing little works. They do not like small changes or small blessings. We want to have everything all at once and on a large scale. We want our church building to be enormous and filled with lots of people immediately.
But let me tell you: nothing will ever grow big, not in your home, family, or ministry, except you successfully pass through this test on the small things. You have to learn to appreciate every small things; everything that you think is insignificant or unworthy of serious consideration.
Jesus preached to crowds of thousands and hundreds of people and in the end chose only twelve people to be His disciples. He took time to work with each person individually.
Out of great multitudes of people coming to hear Him, He chose only twelve disciples for Himself. His attention was focused precisely on certain people so that He might raise them. It is with this strategy in mind that He also gave us the command: "Go and make disciples..."
He wants to draw our attention to a specific person, even if that person is one of the very least. If you have a big church, do not just sit back and rest on your laurels; take an interest in the person who is the very least in your church and care for that individual. Make sure you do all within your reach to help each individual to grow up.
The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
Proverbs 13:4
A diligent person is someone who knows how to gain a thorough understanding of a matter, how to carry out a matter right through to the end, and how to start and finish in an appropriate time. The soul of the sluggard, on the other hand, just craves to have everything. He just dreams about being a great minister with a million people in his church. A dreamer will, one day, unavoidably face the fact that, in reality, he has gotten nothing. Poverty shall come upon him; problems, losses and defeats shall surround him on all sides. People, who want to get everything all at once, usually end up getting nothing in life.
God loves diligent people. You will never have a church with thousands of people unless you are able to work with people individually, unless you take an interest in and find time for each individual, no matter how insignificant that person may seem to you. Be diligent in your ministry and family!
Stop rushing to and fro! Learn to work conscientiously and assiduously with each individual. That is exactly what we see in Jesus’ model. I reckon it was not easy for His disciples to pick up all the left over food out of the grass where the people were sitting. But they had to do that job meticulously.
God called us to work with new converts in exactly the same way. What sort of careful and conscientious labor is required of a pastor? To keep the infants from going back to the world! It is very important to make time for their problems no matter how small they may appear to you! You should be able to work with every individual, training them to be disciples and establish them in God. Then, God will be able to trust you with more people and will bless you.
The Bible tells us that the hand of the diligent maketh rich, that is, brings prosperity. Prosperity and success only come to diligent people who know how to pay attention to details and to small things.
He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding.
Proverbs 12:11
It is only those who know how to labor, who are diligent in their work and till the soil that will be satisfied with results.
The word "till" refers to serve gladly, enjoying your labor. Not to do it just any how, but to till it caringly. Till your land. The land represents your calling and destiny. Your land is your calling from God. You have to find your land and learn how to till it.
When you go deeper into the details of your calling, finding out new things about it and seeking wisdom and understanding from God in due regard, you will be successful. He that tills his land will be satisfied with bread.
What are the reasons some leaders, especially pastors, are not successful in ministry or life endeavors? Why their abilities and talents are left unutilized? Why does God not bless their works? The reason is that they are too lazy in the way they live; some of them are nothing but dreamers. They sit and wait for a breakthrough to come. But they forget that it would not just come like manna from heaven! People who think that God will do everything Himself while they just sit around and make big plans are to be pitied very much. They have not learned to till their land.
It is to prevent such failure that I constantly encourage our church members to study, read books, listen to tapes and make sermon notes. Unfortunately there are still several people that do not read books regularly. How can they be successful then? God is not obliged to bless people who do not till their land.
As a pastor, if you do not fast and pray for your church, do not prepare your sermons, do not come regularly to the church, preach and serve the people, how can you expect God to bless you? How can He answer your prayers? Only those who till their land will be satisfied with bread.
When we started a new system of home groups in the church, called the System of Twelve, many leaders got nothing from it because they were waiting for twelve people to come to them straight away. When one person turned up, they thought: “This System of Twelve is obviously ineffective", ignoring the fact that they have to start with one or two people, and prove themselves faithful with them. They have to till those individuals; working on them in order to establish them in God. Thereafter, as God sees those ministers’ faithfulness, He will in no time give them all the twelve people. That was the reason some group leaders could not get a home group off the ground and God could not entrust them with people. He will only satisfy with bread those who know how to till the land.
God has called us to train disciples. Yet we wait for God just to keep giving and giving. All we want is just to receive ad infinitum.
It is time for you to start doing something. Start tilling your land; start working with other leaders of ministries and home groups, start sharing the Gospel and bringing people into the church. First, start to till the land and then it will satisfy you with bread. "He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread, But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding." (Proverbs 12:11)
Vain persons are those who do not do anything. God has no respect for vain people. He says that they are simply void of understanding. Start with the small things: take somebody under your wing and care for the person, even if it is only one person and develop that person into a disciple of Jesus. That way, you will be like a teacher, who is always concerned about the small things.
Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, And for lack of justice there is waste (i.e. administration of justice ensuring law and order, hence the Russian translation ...destroyed as a result of disorder)
Proverbs 13:23
God wants to bless and give peace in ministry to everybody. God blesses every single individual! However, the Scripture above says that the bread God gives to the poor is destroyed because of disorder. God does give bread to the poor. Why then are they poor? It is not because they have nothing, but they cannot use what they have received properly and thereby keep orderliness.
Why did Jesus call everyone to pay attention to the small pieces of bread?
1. DO NOT LOSE OR WASTE ANYTHING
First, so that nothing might be lost or wasted. Jesus said, He came to seek and save the lost. Jesus could not bear losing anything. Many people perish before our eyes and we quietly look on or to the other side while they go to hell. What kind of followers of Jesus are we? Jesus could not accept losing one soul. All the time, He looked for those who have gone astray so that He could save them.
2. FAR-SIGHTEDNESS
Jesus demonstrated to us that He is a true leader and we have to be leaders just like Him. A great number of leaders are farsighted. They have vision and think on a global scale. Leaders are strategists; they like things that are on a large scale and cannot stand trivial matters and small scale activities.
For a long time I, like others, disliked details and small things until God showed me this was a mistake. As He began to teach me, He drew my attention to the fact that Jesus did not pick the remnants of the bread personally but delegated His disciples to do that job. The most important thing was that He saw those fragments and was concerned about this. He organized His disciples and channeled their efforts to getting the task done.
3. STRUCTURE, MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION
The way Jesus arranged the fragments to be gathered gives an apt picture of order and organization, administration and management. Jesus is a good manager. When He wanted to feed the people, He told them to sit down in a particular orderly way. He was an effective organizer, governing by using specific structures. Without structure, management and organization, the miracle that took place would not give long-lasting fruits.
God is quite able to send you a million people today, but tomorrow they will all leave you again if you have not got a system of administration, structure, management, order and organization in your church.
Jesus knew this. That was why He sent the disciples to gather everything that was left over after the meal. Jesus knew that nothing was to be wasted. And He knew how to organize His disciples, His assistants, to do this.
If a pastor prays for numerical growth in his church, it is unlikely that it will ever get bigger. No, it will not, until he learns how to manage his affairs efficiently, develop and put a reliable structure capable of retaining what God gives him in place.
God tells us that there is rich harvest in the tillage of the poor. Even, God gives a lot to the poor. Why is the person poor then? It is not because God has not given the poor anything. God is just. Some Christians expect God to give them great gifts. No, God starts by giving us small things. Some people consider themselves to be poor because they receive small salary. But, still, it is something which God has given you! God gives to every person; the challenge is that "much bread is destroyed in the tillage". God tells us that there is much food in the tillage of the poor, yet the poor man does not realize it. Why? It is not in his mentality to think about retaining or maximizing what he has, neither does he understand management, structure, organization and order.
God, alone, knows how much of His blessings you have lost along the way! When you do not learn to work with people individually or know how to keep them, then God’s work can be completely destroyed and the people he has entrusted into your care can go back into the world and perish.
4. ACCOUNTABILITY
The Bible tells us that each of us will be held responsible before God for all our deeds, for every idle attitude and lack of order in our lives, and for every soul that perishes through our carelessness.
Begin to focus your attention on the people that God put under your care, even when they hate you, persecute you and speak ill of you. Work with them and pray for them!
In the first year of our existence as a church, we had a financial difficulty. Our annual income was two thousand dollars but we needed five thousand dollars just to pay rent on the building we were using. I cried out to God, asking Him to meet our need, and God answered, "That’s not a problem. It does not matter that you have not got fat offerings. Start being careful with every cent you have, make a check on your petty expenditure and keep it under control." That was a good lesson for me. Thereafter, I became much strict and meticulous about how we spend church money.
Jesus also accounted for the small fragments. He could not allow those bits of bread to go wasted or get dried up. He knew that a lot depended on paying attention to small things. Provided the organization, structure and management that you have are up to the required standard, then God will find a way of multiplying your bread.
I would like to draw your attention to another staggering lesson from this passage.
Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
John 6:13
5. DO NOT NEGLECT SMALL BEGINNING
Jesus had five loaves before He multiplied the bread, but the fragments that were left over after the miracle were enough to fill twelve baskets! Here, we see the wisdom of God. Little things sooner or later get bigger. Nothing is born big. How many of us know that children are born little and grow big as time goes by? Don’t ever neglect little things or small beginnings. Jesus says, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). A little flock can grow until it reaches the dimensions of a kingdom. So if people learn well on how to "gather up" the small things and be concerned about the fragments, in the end, they will reap a rich harvest!
6. CARE FOR SMALL THINGS
Every little thing can grow into something big only if you know how to look after it. Everything depends on your ability to care of the small things..
Do you know how to care for small things? Do you look carefully after the small things in life? Every small thing has potential for greatness. Nobody is born big. God doesn’t give anybody a lot straight away. Why? He wants to test each one of us to see if we can be faithful — faithful even in the smallest things.
The Bible says, “he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). How can God entrust you with much if you are unable to manage that which is least? How can He trust you with big things if you are not faithful and contented with small things? How can He entrust you with somebody else’s destiny when you are not taking care of yours? You must learn to extract values out of things that seem totally worthless.
If you do not learn to obey God in the little deeds, then He will not perform great feats through you. First, you must learn to be obedient to Him. If He tells you to pray for somebody, go and pray. If He asks you to lay hands on people, go and lay hands on them! Start being conscientious in small things; otherwise the prospects for your life in God will not be at all promising. The way your future unfolds depends on how conscientiously and responsibly you accomplish what God has given you to do now.
Are you always faithful in your attitude towards your responsibilities? Do you leave your workplace before the working day is over? God is our Judge. He wants every job that we are commissioned to do, even when it is not quite dignifying, to be carried out with joy, great diligence and good conscience before God and man.
Often, we carry out such tasks uncaringly and not in the best possible way. The problem is that we have a slapdash approach to secular work and God’s work. As a result, our children become drug addicts while husbands engage in drinking and abandon home. Though, they are important to us, we do not know how to give them our attention. Very often, we hurt our spouse in words and actions because we do not know how to accommodate the fact that they are very sensitive. Too many things in life are of no importance to us and that is where the trouble lies.
Do not long for great things when you, still, have not learnt order in the small things. Everything starts out small. Faithfulness in the small things will make you strong. God will entrust you with something bigger after you have proved yourself faithful in the small things.
Take a look at Joseph’s life. How did he manage to become a ruler in a foreign nation? What helped him to obtain such a high position? It was his ability to organize production and economic management. Joseph stored up the surplus food for seven years, and organized everything in such a way that the nation did not go hungry, even, during the time of drought. He managed to save and preserve enough harvest to see them through the years of famine. Joseph was helped by his ability to lend his attention to every small detail.
Your ability to pay attention to small things, caring and looking after the things that you already have will help you tremendously. If God sees that you are faithful in small things, He will exalt you. Your elders will take note of you and you will most surely be promoted to take part in a greater ministry. If you care for people, steward your time, finances and resources wisely, then God will bless you so much.
7. ACCOUNTABILITY
In many respects, your integrity is determined by the way you pay attention to details. Your holiness and inward purity are demonstrated by your ability to be able to account for everything. Do you know how to account for every small thing, every cent that passes through your hands? This is what determines your integrity. You must learn to account for everything, even for the things you think are quite insignificant.
Ability to value small things and look after them carefully is absolute for a genuine leader, especially a pastor called of God. As regarding financial offering in your church, you are accountable not only before God but also before the people who gave the offering. It is completely essential that accurate account of your church finances is kept tidy. That will demonstrate your integrity. You may object to that, saying, "I have not taken anything for myself, I have not stolen anything...” I regret to announce to you that:
Lack of accountability, mismanagement and wasteful spending reveals lack of integrity in your character, and it is just as if you had been stealing. You must be able to account for every cent. Your book-keeping has to be immaculate.
Accounting for finances is very important in the church. I give account of my expenditures and I expect the same from others too. If someone is unable or unwilling to do that, then that person cannot work with me.
Jesus acted in the same way. Daniel’s accountability made him a ruler over Babylon. The Bible states that we will have to give account to God for everything we have done here on earth. For that reason it’s very important to remember and care about small things. Your integrity is established by the way you carefully look after every cent that comes into your hands, by valuing every individual, Christian or non-Christian, a new convert or a mature disciple.
Accountability is the proof of your integrity, whereas disorderliness is parallel to stealing.
Nobody can achieve a breakthrough or become successful without possessing this quality. God has taught me these important lessons. When I go on missionary trips, I am usually blessed with honorarium that I bring back to the church. Some time ago, I preached in Israel and received a goodwill offering of eight thousand dollars. Besides this money, I still had another three hundred and eleven dollars for my traveling expenses. When I returned home, I had to declare the money I had with me to customs. I read through the declaration form and wrote only eight thousand dollars. So, I regarded the remaining three hundred and eleven dollars to be quite insignificant, simply pocket money. In fact, I did not remember exactly how much I had. I handed the declaration form over to the customs officer and then proceeded on to pass through, but I did not get very far that I was asked if I had anything else. Since I could not lie, I answered, "Well, that is the main amount". "Do you have any more?", I was asked. "Yes, I do! I don’t know exactly how much it is, but it’s just a small amount."
For me it was a small amount, but not for the custom officer. It was at that point, as I was sorting matters out at customs, that I realized I actually had an extra 311 dollars on me. This extra money was then confiscated and I was charged with attempting to import money into the country illegally. I tried to convince the people at customs that if someone had declared eight thousand dollars, what would be the sense in trying to conceal three hundred and eleven dollars? I regarded those three hundred and eleven dollars as an absolutely negligible sum of money. I tried to prove my point but got nothing for it, except insults and abuse hurled at me.
Thereafter, I understood that God had allowed that situation because He wanted to teach me something important. Do you know how that incident ended? The customs wrote up a report on me and made a court case out of it. Of course, when the court looked into the case, the money was returned to me. But in this situation, God revealed something to me: He showed me that the small things are just as important as the big things. After that incident, I changed my attitude towards small things and things that I had otherwise regarded to be quite insignificant.
Do not ever disregard small things! You need to have order in all things: in important things as well as what seems secondary. Do not ignore order in money matters. It does not mean that you love money, more than anything else it shows our integrity of character. With God there are no small things. Our attitude to everything He has blessed us with is very important to God.
God watches over every small thing we have and over our attitude towards those things. He wants you to have a sense of order and to be responsible.
Have you an ability to focus on small things? Do you value small blessings? Thank God continually for the sun, the moon, for life and salvation, every breath you take and the ability to walk and work!! Are you responsible to the things God has entrusted you with? Are you conscientious enough when you do God’s work?
I would like to hope that in the future you will be more attentive to those things that you had you earlier thought were so small and insignificant. I believe that you now understand that there are no small things in life. In God’s eyes, everything He created is significant, perfect and has its purpose. You simply have to learn to absolutely appreciate everything that God, in His mercy and grace, has granted us.
Thereafter, your eyes will be opened to see how greatly God has blessed you, even, in the smallest things. We must learn to give thanks for everything we received in love from our Savior.
As a minister of God, if you have this attitude, it will not be difficult for God to give you growth and prosperity! God does not lack whatever you desire from Him. The problem lies with you! Can He entrust them into your care? With a proper attitude towards small things, you will demonstrate to God that you are dependable, faithful and capable to be a trustee of His riches. This will make God respond to you.
