This summer I had a chance to go on a trip, with a group of men from our church, to a place where hope is in short supply and the needs are great.

After returning home and reflecting on our time there, I began to wonder how much good we really did. Are the people better off than they were before, or did we simply make things a little better in the short term? I wrestled with God on this in prayer.

In response, I was reminded of a story where Jesus felt compassion on the large crowd, and asked the disciples, “where will we buy bread to feed these people?”

Philip answered, “we don’t have enough budget to buy food for this crowd.”

Andrew piped up, “there is a boy who brought his lunch, but how will that help?”

You probably know the rest of the story; Jesus took the boy’s lunch and made it more than enough.

Perhaps you can see where I’m going with this. Our efforts on the trip are akin to the boy bringing his lunch. On our own, our efforts are insufficient to address the needs of the people. There is nothing I can do to address the enormous issues we encountered.

So, am I willing to trust that Jesus will make our small effort enough?

I’m learning that Jesus can take what I call micro-obedience, small acts of doing the right thing, and make something grand out of them.

This is for all of us, not just the folks who get to go on mission trips!

When we obey in seemingly small ways, we are participating with Jesus in bringing about his will for this messed up, needy world.

That little boy got a front row seat to see how Jesus used his lunch.

When we get to Heaven, I’m pretty sure we will be amazed to see what God has done with those seeming insignificant times when we obeyed when we thought no-one was looking.

If you are encouraged by this post or would like to join in a conversation, please use the comment form below to offer your feedback. If you are reading this in an email and would like to comment, you can reply to the email or click on the “Read in browser” link below to go to the web page where you can enter a comment. I enjoy hearing from you.

While painting a room for my daughter, I noticed that when the paint is in the process of drying, it is difficult to see what the end result will look like. Since some places on the wall dry faster than others, there is a variation in color until the entire wall dries. It is only when the project is complete that the end result can be assessed.

There is a life lesson in this observation. In the midst of our day to day activities, it is impossible to fully see the results of our effort. We don’t know what impact we are making when we make each choice in the moment. 

For the Christian, we have the promise that Jesus is with us all the time, and that he will complete what he has begun in us. While we seem to struggle with the same things over and over, we can be assured that at some point those problems will be resolved and we will no longer struggle.

The parts that seem incomplete are like the parts of the painted wall that are not yet dry. All we have to do is wait and seek to be obedient to what God has called us to do. God will take care of the rest and the result will eventually be perfect.

If you are encouraged by this post or would like to join in a conversation, please use the comment form below to offer your feedback. If you are reading this in an email and would like to comment, you can reply to the email or click on the “Read in browser” link below to go to the web page where you can enter a comment. I enjoy hearing from you.