Christians, above all others, should be able to appreciate the great importance of small things, made and used so much by our Creator. It is interesting to notice in Scripture the element of smallness in many of the divine miracles. An example is the manna: “there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground” (Exodus 16:14), typical no doubt of the Bread of Life.
In Elijah’s day a little cake was made for him by a widow from her small resources of a little oil and a handful of flour. She thought her gesture would empty the bin and the jug for good, but her faithful willingness resulted in the divine promise: “The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain…” (1 Kings 17:14). Elijah, the widow, and her son fed from the same jar and bin many days (v.15). The testimony of a little girl led to the miraculous cleansing of Naaman the leper (2 Kings 5); The sacrifice of a little boy enabled the Lord Jesus to feed miraculously more than five thousand people with five barley loaves and two small fish (John 6:9).
God has made a brain for us, a comparatively small organ of the human body whose function and complexity confound the greatest of minds. Scientists tell us that the brain has ten million nerve cells for recording things we learn. “The information travels inside us at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour over a network of nerve fibres 100,000 miles long” states one report. We could go on to write of the miracle of the tiny dew drop, the blade of grass, the wheat kernel, the ant; all wonderful examples of God’s purpose in small things. But certain spiders deserve special mention for they were recently responsible for creating a phenomenon in the U.S.A. which puzzled many people. When they wish to migrate, families of spiders weave huge webs, some 20 feet long, and use them to float to their destinations.
In a similar way, Agur the son of Jakeh was impressed by the wisdom of “four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer; The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags; the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in ranks. The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, and it is in kings’ palaces” (Proverbs 30:24-28). We, too, may gain much wisdom in considering God’s ways in taking up very small things for the progress of His great purposes.