It’s OK To Be SMALL! … I love our Arizona Cardinals football team!♥ Yes, I’ll probably always be a Packer fan, too—you know that cheese just “sticks with you” – but…my admiration for the Cardinals is not just their excellent skills but also the coaching and the interaction of the players, and my fave is Kyler Murray, the very young quarterback.

On Sunday I was listening to pre-game chatter from what I call the “talking heads.” The discussion was less about Kyler’s maturity, leadership and skills, and more about him being one of the “shortest” quarterbacks in the NFL. Really? So I did a little looking through NFL quarterbacks because this intrigued me. I was wowed—here are the top ten and most of them are in the NFL Hall of Fame and/or the honor-ring of their team: Fran Tarkenton, Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Sonny Jurgensen, Len Dawson, Joe Theismann, Michael Vick, Eddie LeBaron, Billy Kilmer, and Doug Flutie. I was delighted that I knew a little something about these guys. Isn’t it interesting however, that their size never meant anything—they were the “giants” of their day, their size just a mere statistic rarely mentioned.

Yesterday I was doing some Christmas shopping and looking for books for my nephew and again I was delighted to see a favorite of mine that is still a favorite for so many, The Little Engine that Could. O gosh I loved reading that to my siblings, to Sunday School kids, etc. Al and I laugh sometimes when we’re hauling the big rig—a 45’ 5th wheeler—up a mountain. Our diesel pulls it but it’s working hard so all of us start saying “I think I can, I think I can.” We make it up the hill and honestly, the truck automatically looks for the first gas station without us helping (ha!), and turns in to get fueled (and probably take a rest).

All kidding aside, from the NFL to a children’s book, my next ‘train of thought’ (pun intended) was God’s promise to a little town called Bethlehem, from Micah 5:2 [ESV]

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.

Bethlehem wasn’t just small—call it tiny! It was overlooked, despised and insignificant. If you lived there you would have felt cut-off from the rest of the world. So, what was God thinking? Shouldn’t the Messiah who will rule the world arrive with fanfare in a glittering city worthy of His arrival? Well, let’s take a deeper look into this despised town, because it is here we find the lowly were lifted up!

*To this little town, a hungry Moabitess named Ruth came seeking bread. She was poor, she was a Gentile and she was a widow who, in her days, had little worth and no help. But in the little town of Bethlehem she found much more than she had ever dreamed or imagined!

*To this little town, a prophet named Samuel came, searching for a king for Israel. God rejected the obvious candidates and chose young David that everyone else had overlooked. Yet, David became a king, and a “man after God’s own heart.”

*To this little town, Joseph and Mary came, seeking lodging to no avail. So Mary birthed her first-born son in an animal’s feeding trough. He was the Bread of Life for whom Ruth searched; the King of kings for whom Samuel searched; the haven of rest for whom Joseph and Mary searched.

Well, not so “small” now is it! And that is my musing—that we cannot overlook the “smaller things” whether they are towns, people, incidents in our lives and yes, even God’s creation. We dare not look down on all of this because they can do great things! Just ask the folks right now in the northern states who are shoveling, blowing snow, and lighting the fireplace! One day it’s sunshine, the next, one tiny snowflake joins another and another and winter has arrived. And, may I also add the fact that the Cardinals have the best record in the NFL due to a short but wise young man?!

The saddest part is when we overlook people and judge them for their size, their bank account, their looks—their “seemingly insignificance.” That’s what the Pharisees did to people in their day. It was no wonder those who espoused the Messiah’s coming turned their back on him. After all, God wouldn’t choose Bethlehem, or parents who comprised a peasant girl and a carpenter, right? Oh such fallacy on their part. These supposedly “wise teachers” totally missed the Scriptures they studied! Throughout God’s word—even in their time—one sees how God chooses tiny, small, unimportant, insignificant—for His great purposes.

Aren’t we all glad that God does this? No matter our position in our “stage of life” or those thoughts that often run in our minds telling us “I’m an unlikely candidate for God to use me” –or- “I’m so far from God there’s no hope for me”—God wants to work through us to accomplish great things for the Kingdom. So, toss those thoughts-they are NOT from God.

Here’s my ‘antidote’ for feeling insignificant: This Advent, as we await the celebration of Jesus’ birth, let’s remind ourselves of His humble beginnings and his powerful work from the manger to the cross to the empty grave—all to save us from our sins and give us abundant life NOW and for eternity! Indeed, this is no “small feat” — no, not at all—AMEN!