Insignificant?

Yesterday, I was driving behind a semi-truck and, in the dust on the back of the trailer, someone had written “Jesus Saves.” Many people would brush it off as a light-hearted prank or something small and insignificant. And I almost did the same thing- until God showed me how that simple statement written in dust had turned my attention to Him in that moment and had encouraged me. Simple, small things are often the most powerful things.

The Lord showed me that the writing in the dust of that trailer had the power to reach people who were discouraged, people who were confused, even people who may have been poised to commit suicide. That simple reminder that Jesus can save us out of not only sin, but bondage, pain, and affliction, has great power to affect anyone who reads it. People driving behind it, people who see it when it is parked, even the person driving it who sees it himself when walking by- they are all reminded of the saving power of Jesus Christ. Tremendous power is released from someone’s impulsive desire to make a statement in the dirt.

As a matter of fact, Jesus Himself wrote in the dust, but that is another message for another day. Right now, we are looking at the power of the seemingly insignificant things. One such thing is a seed. Seeds are small things that produce great harvests. Consider in your daily life, what small and “insignificant” seeds you are sowing. Maybe it’s the Scripture verse that is posted in your office. Maybe it’s the smile you give someone you pass at work. Maybe it’s the fact that you ask someone how they are doing and you really listen to their response. It could be very easy to discount and ignore the potential in a seed, but once planted, things happen.

You are like that illuminating light. Let your light shine everywhere you go, that you may illumine creation, so men and women everywhere may see your good actions, may see creation at its fullest, may see your devotion to Me, and may turn and praise your Father in heaven because of it. Matthew 5:16 (The Voice, VOICE)

It is really the small things we do, the tiny seeds we sow and usually forget about, that can reap the greatest harvests. When we let our lives shine everywhere- in the big and small ways- we draw people to Christ, and we accomplish much for the Kingdom of God. The dusty message going down the road on the back of that semi-trailer was accomplishing much despite its seeming insignificance. Let’s do the same and allow the Lord to use us in both great and small ways.