More than It Looks

 

“I am asking you to bring the Kingdom to people, sweetie.
That often looks small, as in quick acts of prayer, little kindnesses, and small words.
But it is big. Like everything in the Kingdom it is more than it looks.”

 

God gave me these words a few months ago and I keep them posted
on my desk. We often don’t know what a small action means to the recipient.

 

A few years ago, I was enjoying a local sweet corn festival,
wandering through the crafts booths and listening to my favorite genre
of music, bluegrass. My husband was working behind the scenes at the festival,
so I was alone. Near one of the two stages I sat on the grass to enjoy the
music. Soon two couples I knew brought their chairs and sat with me. The men
went to get sweet corn and I chatted with the women.

 

When the guys returned, in addition to their own food, they’d
brought a lemonade and an ear of corn for me. A very small gift. And yet, I
still cry as I write these words. Why? They hadn’t asked me if I wanted
anything. They took the risk of rejection. And one of the men was the man who
first demonstrated to me that Christianity was a viable option. The other was a
psychiatrist who’d briefly seen me when I was at my worst, during a serious
emotional crisis many years ago. The value they saw in me, communicated by the
gift, touched me deeply.

 

Our kind words, our small gifts may seem insignificant, but
like everything in this inbreaking rule and reign of good King Jesus, they are
more than we know.

 

Jesus, may we be ever alert to the gifts, the prayers, and
the words that will help bring in the kingdom of God in others.