Tuesday, March 14, 2017
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One summer we took some time out at a quiet little house in the country. My wife was a country girl who always loved the country. I'm a city boy who has learned to love the country. We had some really special days there. And at the end of the day, we would open all the windows in our room, climb into bed, and listen to the symphony - God's Philharmonic. The crickets and tree toads and tree frogs would combine their voices in this beautiful - and loud - moonlight serenade. Didn't hear that too much on the south side of Chicago. I feel peaceful just telling you about it again. My wife caught one of those tree frogs one day and showed it to City Boy here. I almost had to look twice. I was amazed at how tiny that frog was. I don't even know if he was like as big as a nickel. But as my wife said, "He sure can make noise. One of these guys is louder than several crickets at full volume!" So that night, I fell asleep to the big sounds of those very little guys.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Little Things, Big Noise."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Deuteronomy. Here God is telling His people, the Jews, about how they will take possession of this beautiful country called the Promised Land...and how army after army will be defeated by them...how they will become a prosperous and envied nation. Of course, as God is saying this, they are just a nomadic tribe in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 7:7, God's explanation of who this about-to-be-great people really are, "The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples...But it was because the Lord loved you." God said, "You're little. But I'm going to make some big noise through you."
Actually, that's a theme that recurs throughout the Bible. When Saul learned that he was God's choice to be the first king of Israel, he said - "But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin?" (1 Sam. 9:21). God, in essence, seems to be saying, "That's just the kind of unlikely person I love to use."
And the mighty King David. God says, "He chose David His servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep He brought him to be the shepherd of His people." (Psalm 78:70-71). Another spiritual tree frog-a little person through whom God's going to make a lot of noise.
God's strange criteria for people He uses are talked about in 1 Corinthians 1:26. "Think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many of you were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." Why does God do it this way? He says, "So that no one may boast before Him...let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
When God does mighty things through weak, inadequate, unlikely people, He gets all the glory. Those kinds of people don't block the view. Instead of people saying, "Wow, isn't she/isn't he a great person", they say, "Boy, they've got a great God."
God loves to do His biggest things through the smallest instruments. Even churches. In this age of mega-churches, we've got to remember what God said to the church in a New Testament city called Philadelphia, "See, I have placed before you an open door-that no one can shut" (Revelation 3:8). While those chapters of Revelation reveal that God was withdrawing His blessing from some churches that appeared to be strong, He was giving the great open door to a church the Bible says looked weak. He gave it to the little one.
Isn't that encouraging? The God who creates tiny tree frogs that can fill the night with their big noise loves to use the weak and the small. Which means that if you feel weak, inadequate, overwhelmed by what God may be asking you to do, you're probably His frog – I mean His person.
If God allows you to make a big noise for Him, don't ever forget this is something a big God is doing, not a little you.