Nothing Is Small

Who dares to despise the day of small things?

~Zechariah 4:10

 

 

Sometimes, our journey takes us through lands we never dreamed we would travel, and we just do not know how to navigate the path before us because we have never walked this way before.

 

I have had many such  journeys over the past fourteen years.  Cancerland was the first.

 

In this land, the giant is huge and inflicts damage in ways unimaginable both physically and emotionally.  Through surgery after surgery and treatment and disappointment after disappointment and prayer after prayer, the wanderer becomes focused on the giant and often doesn't see the angels all around.

 

The roads traversing this land have no guardrails, and if the traveler isn't careful, he can fall off into hopelessness and despair and self-pity.  In one of my "fallen" moments, I heard a sweet, sweet voice in my head:  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  Yes, Jesus loves me.  The Bible tells me so.

 

That simple song gave me a foothold.  Then came, "If all I have is Jesus, that is enough.  He is enough."   By this time, I had found a hidden staircase leading upward through the pain and the discouragement.

 

Throughout this entire time, my friends and family had been wonderful to me, but I couldn't see it because my eyes were focused on the giants in the land.   I was focused on surviving this ordeal.

 

One day in the middle of a particularly discouraging few weeks, another word came:  Nothing is small if I am in it.  No thing!  And then, "Stop looking at what you don't have and focus on what you do have."

 

My journey took a dramatic turn for the better after letting these words drench my soul.  From that day onward, I got up and started each day by looking at what I did have - the love of Jesus, of my family, and of my friends.  I could see the blessings now.  These angels were ordinary people who served an extraordinary God, and they showered me with not only love but with flowers and meals and ears that listen and trips to appointments and movies and books and laughter and housecleaning escapades and chocolate and candles and pedicures and massages and coffee and prayers of encouragement and healing and silence when I needed it. 

 

There is no small blessing.  NONE!  I am so thankful for each and every one of these angels and for their gifts to me.  These blessings are the memories I cherish from this journey.  These blessings and the love that surrounded them saved me.  If you were one of these angels, I thank you for showering me with God's love.

 

Each day is vibrantly alive

with the "little" glories of God,

and shamed am I in admitting

a dullness which has caused me great loss -

that I am too often not wary

of golden treasure scattered all about me

and my eyes are unfortunately focused

on something other than what I was meant to see . . .

 

fragrant roses, a fuchsia glory  

standing regally in cut plastic on my front porch . . .

a roast, potatoes, carrots,

chocolate pie on a day that was worse than most . . .

Saturday afternoon, lunch, visiting a nursery,

cool drink, great view, relaxing talk . . .

finding in my mailbox, a pink bandana

left by a friend who'd completed a long 5k walk . . .

ears so quick to listen

to the lunatic ravings of fear . . .

hearts so lovingly creative . . .

hands, so full, so near . . .

 

These were but visible signs 

of love for me -

mighty, flesh-and-blood mirrors

reflective of divine glory.

Hopefully, I am of the teachable sort

and can learn to truly see

the value in little, gigantic things.

Nothing is too small to contain a golden mystery.

~October 7, 2004