Tuesday, December 16th

Have you noticed within the Bible that God does big things in small ways?
- Spit and dirt, to create mud which opened the eyes of the blind. Small things in a big way.
- Five loaves and two fishes that transformed into the greatest buffet in history to feed tens of thousands of people. Small things in a big way.
- Esther, who won a beauty pageant to become Queen, but then spoke up to the King and Haman and saved her nation. Someone small who spoke in a big way.
- A fugitive in Moses with a staff to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt across the Red Sea. Small things in big ways.

Let’s go back to our genealogy from last week, Matthew starting the birth story with a list of names, ancestors pointing to the fact that the best of the best, Jesus, accepted the worst of the worst to do the improbable.

We see a couple more threads of small things that weave through the story of Christmas all the way to you and me.

Matthew 1:5-6a- 5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth, Obed the father of Jesse,6 and Jesse the father of King David.

Oh, the greatness of King David. How amazing is it to read the stories and the Psalms of King David? We love to hear of his greatness, all the signs of the Messiah point back to King David. I wonder though, in reading about the greatness of David, we miss the small, unnoticeable ways he came to us.

Let’s go back to when we are first introduced to “just” David, the boy.

1 Samuel 16:1,3, 6-13- The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.
6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” 12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.

Did you notice how unnoticeable David was? Samuel was coming to anoint a king from Jesse’s line, all the sons should have been there. And I get it, it is usually the oldest first that gets the nod, that’s tradition. But if you haven’t notice, God goes about things slightly different. David was unnoticeable as the next King, yet God looks at the heart and from that day on, the Spirit of the Lord was upon David in power. Second time you should note that. Back in Micah, the Messiah was going to lead and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord and now here, this shepherd boy was anointed with power by the Spirit.

But, does that mean, the next day, after this unnoticeable, yet powerful anointing that David goes out and slays the Goliath and rises to king by weeks end?

No, that day, after being anointed king, David went back to shepherding his flock, doing the small things, caring for and protecting the sheep. As the story goes, when Goliath did come and taunt King Saul, the people of Israel and ultimately God. All those small things that David was doing, practicing his sling, killing bears and lions, paid off. Through David’s trust in God and the practice of small things, David killed Goliath and defeating the Philistines… Out of the small greatness comes.

What do we need to notice about the small, unnoticeable things in David’s life?
The heart matters, not David’s power, but the power of the Spirit of God, and the repetition of small things, being done, over and over and over again.

God moves things from small to big so he can bring us with him. If all God did was the big finish, there would be no small changes in us.

For today, I want you to sit with the three observations of David’s life: the heart matters, the power of the Spirit, and the repetition of small things. How do you something within your life and apply it to all three of those areas? What is something repetitive that you can do at a heart level that is led by the power of the Spirit?