Small Things? God Cares!

Transcript

Alright, thank you very much. And hello again, radio friends. How in the world are you? Well, sure I wait for you to answer. You know that. Some of you can answer, “Fine, thank you,” and somebody else says, “Don’t ask,” and somebody else says, “I should have stayed in bed.” [chuckle] I know some days are better than others and some are worse than others. And God never promised that every day would be coming up roses. He simply said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” Yea, though I walk through the valley, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me.” See, it’s not where you are, it’s who’s with you that counts. Right? You may be going through it today, but the Lord Jesus Christ is there with you, and He said, “Lo, I am with you all the way even to the end of the world.” So, your Savior is there, the blessed Holy Spirit dwells within you if you’re a believer on the Lord Jesus. And the Heavenly Father said, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” So, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the blessed trinity. One God and three persons is there with you this minute! Be encouraged and go ahead and plow on through for the glory of God. Then you’ll be able to look back and say, “He did it. God did it. This is the Lord’s doing.” Amen? [chuckle]

Alright. Well, now we’ve come to the 12th verse of Mark, chapter 14, the first day of unleavened bread. When they prepared the Passover, His disciples said, “Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the Passover?” And He sent forth two of His disciples and said, “Go ye into the city and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him and wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, ‘The master sayeth, Where is the guest chamber where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples?’ and he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared. There make ready for us.” And His disciples went forth and came into the city, and found as He had said unto them, and they made ready the Passover. And in the evening, He came in with the 12.”

Stop here just for a moment. Now, this is the second time when the Lord Jesus said, “You’re gonna find certain things,” and they found it exactly as He said. You recall? He said, before the, what we call, the triumphal entry, “Go your way into the village over against you. Soon as you be entered into it you shall find a colt tied whereon never man sat. Loose him and bring him. If the man say, ‘Why do ye this?’ say, “The Lord hath need of him,’ and he will send him here.” And they went their way and found the colt, and they loosed him and certain of them that stood by said, “What are you guys doing? What do ye, loosening the colt?” And they said, even as Jesus had commanded, “The Lord hath need of him,” and they let ’em go. Now there you have another instance of the foreknowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In another of the Gospel records, you’ll find the story of tax money being provided. It was time to pay some taxes and our Lord Jesus said to Peter, “You go cast a hook into the sea and bring up the first fish you catch, and you’ll find a coin there and you can pay your taxes with that.” And that’s precisely what happened. Does Jesus know where the fish are? Yes. He told the disciples that more than once. “Cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find.”

Paul Rader, I guess it was, who first pointed out in my hearing that “to cast the net on the right side” probably meant that they had to do it left-handed, awkwardly. But they did it and found this great harvest of fish. He knew where the fish were. He knew which fish had a coin in its mouth. He knew where this colt was that had never been ridden upon, which He was going to ride, the Creator riding an unbroken colt, in the triumphal entry, fulfilling Daniel’s prophecy of Messiah, offering Himself to Israel. And He knew where this room was, and He knew who was going to be out getting a pitcher of water at the well. They didn’t have running water in those days, you had to go bring it. And He knew that it was gonna be a man, not a maidservant. And He knew which house it was coming from, and that the person that was the head of that house was expecting Jesus’ guest.

Just a few things concerning what the Lord Jesus knew ahead of time. Of course, He knew all about His crucifixion and death and resurrection. He kept trying to tell them that, and they kept missing the point, as you know. But concerning small things, I’m gonna stop here long enough to remind you that your Savior knows about the small things in life, and that it is no insult to deity to pray about small details in life. Occasionally, I’ll visit some elderly saint who mislays things. Did you ever lose something in the house and you knew you didn’t lose it really, it isn’t gone, but it’s mislaid? Occasionally, I say, I’ll visit some dear elderly saint who has come to a point in life where frequently he or she will mislay things and can’t find them. And now and again I’ll run onto somebody who says, “You know, Brother Cook, when that happens I just pray and say, ‘Dear Jesus, help me find it.'” And He does! And the face will light up and the eyes will sparkle.

Does Jesus care about things you mislay? Of course He does. Yes, He does. Does He care about small matters in life? Yes. Paul says, “Worry about nothing, don’t worry about anything. But in everything… ” Now, you can’t get more inclusive than that. Everything is everything is everything, isn’t it? “Everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And as a result, the peace of God that passes all understanding should keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Do you ever pray about small, non-religious things? Pray about where to get the car serviced? Pray about a parking spot? Pray about what garment to buy, buy this one or that one or the other? Pray about what to do about Junior, whether to love him or spank him or both, and in what order? Pray about things? Pray about what course to take in high school and college? Pray about things?

Does Jesus know about them before they happen? Yes, He does. Does God have a plan for the small items in your life? Yes, He does. I’m afraid I disagree with those who say that you shouldn’t bother God with these things, that you should use your own good sense. Well, I think if you have any good sense, you ought to use it. But I do think too, that God has a plan. Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world. And if God is a great enough God to create with such attention to microscopic detail not only the interstellar universes that we keep on discovering but also the sub-microscopic universe, where the deeper you go, the more detail you find. You remember how surprised the scientists were some years ago now when discovered that the human cell has in it it’s own pattern for development, DNA for short, that helix of chain inside the cell that constitutes the code of development. How surprised they were that that was there. That happened by chance? No. A creator who pays attention to detail put it there, didn’t He? If that be so, you certainly can assume safely that God is interested in the details of your life. “He knoweth the way that I take,” said Job, “And when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold.”

“The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord, and He delighteth in His way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand.” It’s a picture of a grown up holding a little child tightly by the hand as you’re crossing the street. The youngster may stumble, but that strong grown up hand holds onto him or her and keeps the little individual from falling down, that’s the picture. The Lord upholdeth him with His hand. Dr Pettengill used to say, “Your steps, and stops, and even your stumbles are sanctified when God is in control.”

Does God care about the details in life? Oh yes, He does. Yes, He does. Does He have a plan for the small things in my life? Yes, He does. You see, because large events oftentimes are the result of small details. You know, for the want of a nail the shoe was lost, for the want of a shoe the horse was lost, for the want of the horse the rider was lost, for the want of the rider the war was lost, or whatever. Remember that? Small details. Who among us has not had a flat tire now and again? And like as not, that flat tire was caused not by running over some railroad spike or having a horrendous blowout, but it was caused by picking up a very small object like a nail. I remember, I think the last time I had a flat tire, which has been a long time ago, thank God, I brought it to the shop, they could scarcely find where the hole was that was allowing the air to escape. And then finally it showed up. Tiny, tiny, tiny, little nail, just long enough to go through a thin part of the tire and pierce on into the inside to let the air go out slowly.

Small things add up to large results. Well, that being so, beloved, why don’t you make a habit of praying about everything including the small matters? You lost something, ask God to help you find it. I lost some airplane tickets a while back, couldn’t find them anywhere. And I had been praying about a certain kind of work that I had to do that I’d been putting off. And I really talked to the Lord, I said, “Lord, I have to confess I’ve been putting this off. Please help me do it.” Now, within a day or so, I discovered I had lost these airplane tickets. Where were they? Well, I scurried everywhere, and in the process of looking I went through this particular job of work that I had been putting off, and it got done. Then, [chuckle] I found the airplane tickets. I had laid them aside, of all places, on a shelf in the garage when I was working one day and took off my coat and laid the tickets aside, and there they were. See, God knows how to answer prayer. He knows about things.

Don’t you wanna trust Him today for the small things in life, for the little details about which He knows already and delights to lead you? It says in Psalm 37, “He delighteth in his way.” This is God delighting in your way. He likes to lead you, yes He does. “If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall,” shall that is, definitely shall “be given him.” Oh, beloved, it makes sense to trust God. This is not some wild-eyed, hysterical approach to religion. This is good common sense. Call up heaven about things. Ask God to guide you. He’s interested in the small details because He knows already how they’re gonna work out.

Dear Father, today give us the good sense to talk to Thee about the small things in life as well as the big ones. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the king today and be a blessing!