Bible Society of South Africa
Benescke Janse van Rensburg

He can … – Day 10

He wants to build a strong foundation in us

Bible text(s)

Zechariah 4:10GNBOpen in Bible reader

Luke 16

10Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones.

Luke 16:10GNBOpen in Bible reader

During the Olympic Games in 2016, the world was amazed by the gymnast, Simone Biles’ ability. After years of training, she and a bunch of other gymnasts were in top form. Their abilities left a lot of kids with stars in their eyes, with the prospect of following in their footsteps. My daughter, who was 3 year old at the time, was one of these children.

After begging me for weeks, my daughter and I arrived at her very first gymnastics class. The mother next to me, whose daughter was 5 at the time and was also there for the first time, told me that her child was so excited about gymnastics that she gave up her ballet classes. I could see the anticipation on the girl’s face.

During this class, the children were divided into three groups that had to turn on the beam, do somersaults, then jump on the spring board and land on the mat. The activities clearly lay the foundation on which they could build as future gymnasts.

In the middle of the class, the 5-year-old daughter walked towards her mom and I where we waited for them. She was clearly unhappy. When asked what was wrong, she burst into tears and said through her sobs, “No mommy, this is not gymnastics. I want to do gymnastics like the people did on the TV.” She clearly also watched the Olympic Games and expected to perform like them already during her first lesson.

Sometimes, we have an attitude like this too. We pray about a particular issue and expect God to answer in the way and timeframe that we have in our mind. If the answer does not look exactly like the expectation, we become unhappy. We burst out in tears and forget that God might be busy forming our foundation. He wants our character to be strong enough to handle the breakthrough.

In Zechariah 4:10, we read: “For who has despised the day of small things?” In Luke 16:10 we read: “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.”

What is your prayer request today? Are you praying for your own business? Expansion or growth in your current business? A particular job? A house of your own? A spouse? A child? Let us choose to be faithful in “walking on the bar, doing basic somersaults and jumping on the spring board” while remembering that God is busy laying the foundation in our lives. The Olympic Games are on its way, but we will only attend it if we stay faithful in the little things. God bless you.

Assignment for the day: What do you pray for today? Stay faithful in the small, insignificant tasks and ask God specifically to help you to be patient in the foundation-creating phase.

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