“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (Luke 16:10-12NIV)
When God first made man, He told him to rule over the earth, subdue it and replenish it. But we see clearly from Scriptures that God did not immediately leave him to start moving round all the face of the earth in order to fulfill the mandate He had given him. Instead, He first put him in a small garden, the garden of Eden. And He did that to teach us that until we have learnt to manage that which is little and profit with it, there is no way we can manage that which is great and be fruitful with it. (Cf. Gen 1:26-29 & 2:4-8)
Unfortunately, there are many today who think unless they start with something big and grand in life, there is no way the great dream God has given them or shown them can come to pass. So, they are just waiting around for that big opportunity that will launch them into greatness to come, while doing nothing serious with their time, life and skills. But all such individuals are waiting in vain. The big opportunity they are expecting will never find them, even if it comes.
Look at Joseph of bible days, for instance. He had been given all kinds of dreams of greatness by God. And though he was very young at the time God began to talk to him about the plans He had for his life, he believed God and was very optimistic. But because of the bitterness of his brothers towards him, he ended up becoming a slave in a place where his hope of becoming anything significant in life was almost nothing. Yet this young man did not lose hope or throw away his confidence in God. And to prove that, he made himself useful and profitable, even as a slave. He did not allow his skills as a great leader and manager to waste away because he was not in a place. Rather, he showed that he could be trusted with managing the small household of Potiphar to greatness. (Cf. Gen 39:1-6)
Then when matters got out of hand for this young man, and he found himself in the prison, he still did not lose hope or give up on God’s dreams for his life. He did not join the companion of irresponsible men and drunkards. Instead, he again made himself useful and profitable to the warden of the prison. He did not consider managing a prison too small for someone of his talents. Why? He understood by the wisdom of God that unless a man shows himself capable of profiting with what is little, however great his talents may be, only fools would put great things in his hands to handle. And wisdom proved him right, when the opportunity for him to become all that God had planned to make him finally came. (Cf. Gen 40-41)
So, stop praying to God to send some free one million naira your way, when you have not even shown Him that you can manage twenty thousand naira profitably. And don’t start asking Him to make you the general manager of one big company in the country, when you have not even shown Him that you can manage your mummy’s small shop profitably. God does not do such things. Only men, foolish men do them. And it is hard to find one or two of such foolish people around today.
Look, as our Lord makes clear to us in that opening bible text, God is not about to fulfil that great plan of His for your life until you take very seriously the little things He is now sending your way to handle. That is because unless you prove to Him that you can be faithful with that which is little, then, as far as He is concerned, you are not going to be faithful with that which is much. Therefore, as you are praying and trusting Him to bring you into greatness in life, also make sure that you are handling the little things in your hand with all diligence and seriousness.
In short, be sure you are doing what Solomon says, which is, “Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might.” (Cf. Ecc 9:10) In other words, prove yourself profitable with what is available at the moment. Don’t use the absence of certain opportunities or resources as an excuse for doing nothing meaningful with your life. You may not be able to use all your skills and abilities at the moment. But use the ones that the available circumstances allow you to use. Then when those circumstances you are expecting eventually come, they will find you in the right place. And I pray that, as you show diligence and faithfulness in every little matter of your life, the favour of God will keep you from missing your opportunity to attain that height that is meant for you in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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By: J.O. Lawal | Date: July 01, 2020 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 3, No. 7