Small Matters.

"But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village in Judah.  Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you, one whose origins are from the distant past. ... And he will stand to lead his flock with the Lord's strength, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. ... And he will be the source of our peace."  Micah 5:2-5

After an outstanding man versus rusted lug nut battle, the deflated tire was removed - a small victory.  The now inflated spare tire was then mounted - a small task.  The panicked phone calls we were overhearing alerted us to the need for some money to purchase a badly needed new tire.  We gladly gave them some money - a small gift.  After which, the young mom broke into tears of gratitude.  The van was quiet as we drove away, each person pondering deep thoughts.  Thoughts like, "Wow, small matters."

It must have made Micah smile as he wrote down these words of prophecy.  This little out of the limelight village that barely made the local map was to be the birthplace of a ruler.  No, THE Ruler.  Who would of thought?  Nobody ... except God that is.  In God's economy, the big and the flashy are well ... not so big and flashy.  God honors the small.  The huge has it's place to be sure, but the small is no less likely to inspire divine attention.

Maybe we are being completely overwhelmed by our smallness these days.  Maybe it's been awhile since we've changed the world.  Perhaps being a teeny tiny fish in an enormous ocean has produced a certain degree of discouragement.  I wonder if that's precisely the reason why God chose Bethlehem as his place of entry.  He knew each of us, the small ones, would need to be reminded: small matters.
 
Grace and Peace,

Tom

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