There's this commercial here in Denmark advocating small bills as opposed to big bills. It's a commercial created by a cell phone company that wants you to switch and use their services. I haven't switched yet. I've been thinking that there are several big Bills I would love to be more like: Bill Gates financially, Bill Johnson spiritually, Billy Graham evangelistically, Billy Joel musically. I don't hold a candle to any of those guys. The only bills I get anywhere near are the ones that pile up on my desk at the end of the month. I do a lot of laundry, I work at the office, I shop at Netto. The rain splashes on me from the puddles when I ride my bike on grey days. I sometimes hurt my friends because I forget that I have two ears and one mouth so as to listen twice as much as I speak. I have dustballs under my couch. I don't live a very glamourous life at all.
But this week Dave and I have gone around and interviewed people who have been part of the church we planted ten years ago: A lady who met Jesus because a team from our church did some yard work for her. A man who met us in the town square when a group of us handed out chocolate bars right after we started the church. He only googled us back then, but a seed was sown, and seven years later he joined us and is growing in his walk with God. A newlywed couple, who were just twenty when we started, but dedicated their first years together to being our worship leaders and cell group leaders and are "still going strong" because they put God first in their marriage. A single mom who can barely make ends meet financially, but who finds strength and healing in Jesus and now leads one of our cell groups.
There's this old cliché story of life's tapestry, how we only ever get to see the back of the tapestry here on earth, we only see all the tangled threads and the mishmash of colors that blend in a brown mush. Not until we get to Heaven do we get to see the front of the tapestry, the wonderful picture that God has sown. But this week, interviewing these people whom I rub shoulders with on a day-to-day basis in our church, it's been like boiling it all down. It's like the tapestry has been turned around for a bit. I can see that though we went through some really tough times starting that church, God has been so faithful. He has done great things through our small lives. We gave him our five loaves and two fishes and He worked a miracle and fed a lot of people. We had baskets full. And at the point when we felt empty, God sent in a new pastor who is doing an excellent job taking our church to the next level. In our weakness He has proved himself strong.
There's a verse in Revelation that says that we overcome the enemy by the blood of Jesus and the word of our testimony. Testimonies. Wonderful sparkles of life and glory in the middle of life's dust balls and overdue bills. Christ in us, the Hope of Glory. I have heard testimonies this week. I got to turn the tapestry of my life around for a bit and I am just amazed at what God has done with the little that we have given Him. Following Him surely is a pearl of great price!
Don't get me wrong, I would love to own as much dough as Bill Gates, walk with God as consistently and powerfully as Bill Johnson, sing like Billy Joel and preach like Billy Graham. But God likes small bills too! He spoke through a donkey once even, and He has splashed healing on some lives through our lives. It makes me feel very small. A very small bill. With a very big gratitude.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF0TcbY_Z8o
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