Even in the Small Things

Today I was driving along Green Mount Road, seat heater on (is there anything nicer than a toasty warm derriere?) and radio on Joy FM. The music stopped and the DJ’s were chatting when they told a story about a previous caller that caught my attention.

The caller said that she had stopped at a red light when a woman in the car next to her signaled for her to roll down her window.  She did and the woman said, “I saw the Joy FM sign in your car window, and I just wanted to ask you if you would pray for me. I’m desperately in need of prayer.” And she started to cry. The woman with the decal prayed…and hoped the light wouldn’t turn green too soon. Then they waved at each other and drove off, probably never to cross paths again. It really touched me that such a small thing as a decal in a window could lead to such a big thing…prayer in the time of need.

But God is always in the details, isn’t He?

Sunday in my Sunday school class, we were talking about the battle of Jericho and obedience and how God was in every detail…no matter how small.  Even told the Israelites not to speak as they marched. Sort of counter intuitive for humans …not speaking, isn’t it? He was in the small things as well as the large. As we marveled at God’s attention to details, one of the women in the class said, “I have a story I’d like to share.”

Denise is the type of person who seldom speaks, but when she does she’s always worth listening to. So, of course, we listened.

“I was in Minnesota with my parents and things were going badly,” she said. “They were both ill and it was difficult to get on the plane to come back to St. Louis knowing I would have to leave them on their own again. Actually, I was crying as I boarded the plane, and by the time I got to my seat, my eyes were red, my nose was running and I was a mess. And, of course, I was without a Kleenex. I knew I could get one in the lavatory, but couldn’t bear to walk the entire distance of the plane to get it.  In my misery, I prayed ‘Oh, God, please just let me find a Kleenex.’ “  About that time my seatmate touched me on my arm and offered me one of the small travel packs of — Kleenex. She said that she often didn’t know what to say when people needed help, but she usually knew what to do.”  Denise said that she clutched that package of tissue for the entire flight knowing it was God’s way of bringing her comfort.

Her story was one about a tiny detail, a package of Kleenex. But to God, there was no detail too small. And to Denise it was affirmation that God was watching over her.

A decal in the window of a car. Kleenex for a runny nose. A love that we cannot comprehend. It’s something wonderful to think about isn’t it?

Bev.