Little Things

Advent 2011 Day 8

Micah 5:2-5
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet, out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Therefore will he give them up, until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.
And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth.
And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.

Today is the start of week 2 of Advent. This is the Bethlehem week. Although we are not in the prophecy week anymore, the verses we start with are still prophetic.
Bethlehem...not a town that impressed people. Even now, yeah, we look at it as the birthplace of Jesus, but otherwise, we don't see it as being very amazing. Even knowing what occurred there, we still see it as a small, simple town.
But it was the town that was chosen for the birth of the Redeemer. God is not too keen on using the things that are big and showy. He chooses the things that are small, and unnoticed. Which is fortunate for us.
We were just talking in small group about 1 Timothy 4:12 "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."
Whether you're young, or small, or just feel like you don't have anything to give, God can still use you. He used Bethlehem. He used Mary, who was a young girl, and Joseph, who was just a carpenter. All through the Bible, God used the things and people that no one thought mattered. He even used a donkey. Who is to say that he will not still do that now?
Be open to having God work through you, whether you think that he should or not. You never know what will end up happening if you're just willing.