God uses little things. I’m thankful that’s true. I first learned this lesson when I was little, a boy serving Jesus at a Backyard Bible Club during a balmy summer in Biloxi, Mississippi. I was amazed that God would use me and I still am.
According to Jesus, the kingdom of heaven is like the smallest of seeds. It starts so small, seemingly unable to make any real impact, but when grown it becomes a large tree that provides shelter and safety. The Bible says the smallest seeds result in unimaginable growth.
“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” (Matthew 13:31-32)
This principle shines throughout the Old Testament: Abraham the life-long pilgrim, Joseph the slave made ruler, Moses the bulrush baby turned peregrine murderer turned prophetic mediator, Gideon the timid and hesitant judge, David the shepherd king. Time would fail me to tell of the many others.
Of course, the pinnacle of this principle is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God the Son who took to himself a human nature and came to the earth, born of under the law to a meager carpenter family. He was from Nazareth in Galilee, and really, “can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Jesus was the smallest of seeds, and his kingdom started in the smallest of ways, a few misfit disciples that grew to an unimpressive 120 Pentecost worshippers. But this kingdom is the largest of trees, unimaginably growing to provide eternal shelter and safety to all who believe.
I’m convinced that this principle is a paradigm of sorts. Jesus still uses the little things, the smallest seeds, to bring about the unimaginable growth of his kingdom. He gets the glory this way. We are drawn to the big things—big money, big numbers, big “results”—we think they are secret to success, influence, and momentum. We look past the little things even though those are the very things God says he uses. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not against the big things. I believe God uses them too, but he has always burdened my heart for the unassuming pastors, the small churches, the shade-tree preachers in the African bush making Jesus known.
So, the kingdom is sort of like a Mustard Patch—a garden of kingdom seeds growing into a grove of kingdom trees which are really branches of the true vine. I have spent most of my 24 years of ministry in smallish churches, I pastor a wonderful smallish church, and I serve an association of churches, many of them small, as a Church Planting Strategist working to help them multiply. I want to spend the next season of my life doing my part to tend The Mustard Patch, germinating small kingdom seeds for unimaginable growth by highlighting and helping them in any way I can. One of the best ways to highlight and help small kingdom seeds is by writing about it.
I think talking is my strong suit. Writing, not so much. Nevertheless, some things are better written than said, so I’m praying that the discipline will become a desire and that God will use it in some way for his glory. My thoughts usually travel down three paths. The pastoral path reflects the life of local church I pastor. The church planting path reflects my work as a Church Planting Strategist. The theology path reflects my theological curiosities. You can expect me to share news, encouragements, sermon extras, devotional nuggets, and probably a little reflection on current events. I probably won’t engage in online debate nor feel the need to respond to everyone and everything.
But know, I will always have my eyes on the one true God and the little things he loves to use.
Justin D. Compton 