Faith In Small Things - What’s The Big Deal?

How faithful are you in the small things? Do small things even matter?

Not the big, visible moments everyone sees, but the quiet, daily details nobody applauds or notices. The ones nobody grades you on.

Because I want to suggest that those small, invisible, nobody’s-watching moments may be the most telling thing about who you actually are. No, not always, but there’s some truth here - stay with me please.

Let me start somewhere you probably didn’t expect. A bird’s nest.

In Deuteronomy 22, right in the middle of laws about livestock and neighbors’ fields, God drops this instruction: you may take the young birds, but let the mother go free.

“You may take the young birds, but you must let the mother bird go free. Then things will go well for you…” (Deuteronomy 22:7 NCV)

You’re walking along a path. You find a nest. Mother bird. Eggs. Young birds. You could take everything, total gain, nobody watching, no consequences. And God says, don’t do that. Take what you need, but don’t destroy the source. Don’t consume it all.

I think this is sort of a character test disguised as a bird’s nest. Right? It’s true - your drinking, eating, attention to the details of life, noticing the small things happening in the life others - the list could go on.

Restraint in a small, private moment is one of the most revealing things about a person.

When nobody is watching and you still do the right thing, that’s not behavior. That’s character. That’s who you actually are when the performance is over.

And God ties something big to this - things will go well for you. In this scenario, a bird’s nest, and your future are connected.

Jesus mentions this even further. He doesn’t soften it, He goes straight at it.

“Whoever can be trusted with little can also be trusted with much…”

(Luke 16:10 NCV)

“If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (Luke 16:11 NCV)

That phrase, true riches, makes me to stop and evaluate myself. Because Jesus isn’t just talking about money. He’s talking about spiritual things. Eternal things. The deeper assignments. The greater callings.

And He’s saying the question of whether He can trust you with those things is directly connected to how you handle the little things right now.

Think about it like a surgeon. He doesn’t walk into an operating room and perform open-heart surgery the first time he picks up a scalpel. He practiced the small things, the sutures, the procedures, the details, until they became second nature.

I think God operates the same way. Do well at the small, have responsibility of the large …

So let’s make it practical. Do small things really matter? Things like diet, exercise, cleanliness, organization, keeping yourself put together, paying attention to people, returning calls, following through.

I think it matters enormously. Because here’s what I’ve observed: people who are faithful in the small things are generally taking care of the big things too.

I have a friend who has tracked his calories for over twenty years. He’s consistently fit and disciplined, not because it’s always easy, but because he committed to paying attention to something small every single day.

And now he’s got me doing it. That’s the other thing about small faithfulness, it quietly influences everyone around you without you saying a word. I was suprised how many calories were leaking through the cracks.

Colossians 3:23 says it plainly: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord…” (Colossians 3:23 NCV)

Not just the big things. Whatever you do. Your inbox. Your prayer life. Your follow-through with people. Your health. All of it, as if the Lord Himself is watching. Because He is.

Small sins follow the same logic. We tend to categorize sin into big ones and small ones, the ones that really count and the ones that don’t much matter. But Jesus said the person who is dishonest with little is dishonest with much. Compromise doesn’t stay small. It grows. Song of Solomon puts it this way:

“Catch the foxes for us — the little foxes that ruin the vineyards.” (Song of Solomon 2:15 NCV)

Not the lions. Not the wolves. The little foxes. The small compromises. The small neglects. The small habits you’ve let slide because they didn’t seem like a big deal. They are a big deal.

So let me ask you honestly, and I’m asking myself the same question. What small things in your life have quietly spun out of control?

There’s no emergency, no visible crisis, but something isn’t together anymore, and somewhere deep down, you know it.

Maybe it’s your health. Your prayer life. Your finances. Your follow-through with the people who matter most to you.

Wouldn’t it be something to have those things together again? Not perfect. Just faithful. Consistent. Aligned.

Because here’s the promise woven through Scripture from Deuteronomy all the way to the words of Jesus, when you’re faithful in the small things, things will go well for you. And you’ll be trusted with the true riches.

It’s really a divine principal. Yes, for me, all of this started with a little birds nest - and it affects all sorts of things - even eternity.

GOD, we come to You honestly today. Some of us have let the small things drift, and we’ve told ourselves it doesn’t really matter. But You’ve shown us that it does. The little moments, the private decisions, the daily disciplines, they reveal who we really could be. And, they shape what You can trust us with. Holy Spirit, help us. Make us whole again. Where things have spun out, restore order. Where we’ve been careless, bring intention. Where we’ve been unfaithful in the small things, give us the grace to start again, not out of guilt, but out of a genuine desire to honor You with everything we are. Help us be faithful in the little things, consistent in the details, and aligned with You in how we live every day. IJNIP amen ♥️