A number of years ago I heard about a woman who had the most amazing way of reaching people with God's Word. She lived on a chicken farm and each morning collected up the eggs to be sold. As she placed the eggs into cartons, she slipped in a little something extra—a handwritten Bible verse. Everyone who purchased those eggs received a word of encouragement from Scripture.
I've never forgotten this story because it is an absolutely brilliant and creative way to share Scripture. And it made me realize that God takes our simplest and most humble efforts for His purposes and multiplies them. We don't have to do big and flashy things to reach people for Christ.
We don't even have to leave our homes. My friend, Jessie, also has a far-reaching ministry with very limited resources. Using only a rotary phone, Jessie connects with politicians and high profile people in her community and Ottawa. She encourages them in their work and shares God's love. Jessie uses what she has to make a difference. In the scheme of things her efforts may appear small but she impacts decision-makers and people of influence with God's truth.
That's how our Creator works. He cares about small things. Look, for instance, at how He made the spider. The tiniest spider can make both sticky and non-sticky silk and knows how to use both! Spiders even know how to stay on the parts that aren't sticky so they won't be glued to their own web. Isn't that incredible? God cares about giving spiders the ability to create webbed masterpieces out of their tiny little bodies.
In the same way, you can create masterpieces for God's glory through the seemingly small, everyday things that you do.
Romans 12:1-2 expresses this ministry lifestyle beautifully. “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you” (MSG).
I love the sentence “Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.” That's the key. Living for Christ is a moment-by-moment lifestyle, giving what you have for God's service. You can listen, pray, bake, babysit, fix things, forgive, mediate, teach, guide, soothe, encourage, chauffeur, disciple, feed, hug, let others take the credit, smile, take a stand against injustice, mow someone's lawn, go the extra mile, be friendly, be available…to name a few.
Children can have ministries, too! Watch for their interests and strengths. Together, find ways to use their gifts to help others. It's never too early to teach children about looking beyond themselves.
Matthew 5:15-16 sums it up well: “If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”
If God uses old rotary phones and cartons of eggs for His purposes, He knows a thousand different ways for you to make the most of what He has given you to reach a lost world.
