“Don’t fear, little flock. Your Father wants to share his kingdom with you” (Luke 12:32, ERV)
Contrary to what many people think, Jesus did not come to solve the world’s problems. Rather He came to make it possible for God, through Jesus, to live in us and through us, solve the problems of the world around us. Jesus came so we could be a people who, in partnership with Him, are bringing divine solutions to human problems. In Colossians 1:27, Paul did not say that Christ is the HOPE of Glory; rather he said “Christ IN US is the hope of glory”. Our opening text confirms this truth and shows us how God works in and through His people to bring divine solutions to big human problems:
1. God wants to use little ones to solve big human problems: Many times we have this impression that God is interested in greatness. We desire to be a great praying person, a great bible person, a great lover of people or a great this and a great that. While aiming for greatness in any area is an excellent goal, we must NEVER forget that God does not use great people but little people to solve big problems. He used little David to defeat a giant Goliath. He used little dreamer boy Joseph to save a world locked in an economic depression. It was little girl Esther that stood up to mean, bad, evil Haman and God delivered a nation through her. Daniel and his three friends were little boys who stood up for God in big, bad Babylon. He used Rehab, a sinful prostitute, to deliver mighty Jericho to God’s people. He used little Gideon to save Israel from the powerful Midianites. God used all these people who were not only little in their own eyes but also little in the eyes of others to provide divine solutions to the big human problems of their day! That is why Jesus addressed his statement in our text today to “little flock”. His call is to those who are not great praying people; to those who know very little bible; to those who do not have big academic degrees. His call is to you and I, who are little in our eyes. Are you such a person? Then know that God dwells with you (Isaiah 57:15) and it is to you that He gives the opportunity and the grace to bring divine solutions to big human problems (James 4:6).
2. Love, not fear, should motivate little ones as they go after big human problems:Jesus says to the little ones “fear not”! What this means is that we must let love, not fear be the deepest motivation of our life. In 1 John 4:8, John who heard Jesus speak these words, says “there is no fear in love; perfect love casts away all fear.” We must never let fear of any form motivate us or use fear to motivate others. Jesus was teaching them about trusting the Father. About not worrying about what to eat and what to wear. “Think of the birds”, he said, “your father feeds them!” Birds are not worried or afraid about what to eat – because they know the Father will feed them. Grasses are not worried about looking beautiful – the Father beautifies them. Jesus is warning those of us who are little – if you find yourself over working, over anxious, over stressed – beneath it all is FEAR – you are motivated by FEAR. But fear kills your ability to lovingly trust your Father. Kill FEAR in your life with LOVE or else your FEAR will kill LOVE in your life! Job said – “it was that which I was most afraid of that came upon me” – Job 3:25. In other words – all those times he was making sacrifices, and praying and serving God – even though he prospered – he was motivated by fear and not by love! And so Jesus warns us that we must do everything out of love – not out of fear. In the kingdom – the opposite of fear is not courage or boldness – it’s love! Love defeats fear (1 John 4:18) – and so let love alone, nor fear, be the reason why we go after big human problems.
3. God will yield to the will of His little ones in their quest to solve big human problems: We have been taught to pray to the Father “thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” But has it ever occurred to you that the Father wants His will done, not in spite of your own will, but because it is your will? In other words, has it ever occurred to you that when you pray to the Father and say “let your will be done on Earth”, that such a prayer should be synonymous with you also saying “let my will be done on Earth”? Do you know that God wants your will and His will to be one? That He wants that what you will is also what He wills and that what He wills is also what you will? This may sound strange but the fact is that God is as interested in seeing YOUR will being done as He is interested in seeing His own will being done! This is what Jesus says here to the “little ones” i.e. the Father is happy, very happy to share His power and His authority with you! This lines up with what we read from Genesis 1 where we are told that the reason why God created humans was to have people who truly and fully reflected God in every way. God wanted these humans to live and operate in God’s image and likeness and in so doing He would give them give “dominion over all the earth”. To have dominion means to have your will done. This has always been the will of the Father – that the will of His children, His little ones, will be done on Earth just as the Father’s will is done in Heaven! We fell short of this glory of God when sin came into the world and we became rebellious children and lived contrary to the image and likeness of our Father. But Jesus invites us, His little ones, to become people whose wills are one with their Father as we learn to stay little in our eyes and remain motivated by only love and not by fear.
Deep humility and outrageous love are at core of who God is. And so the highest manifestation of God’s glory occurs when we, through deep humility and love, become so in-tuned with the Father, so one with the Father, that what we will and what the Father wills are one! This is partly what Jesus meant when He declared “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). And to such a person, just like He did to Jesus, the Father will have no problem in saying “Let your will be done on Earth” – as they go about bringing divine solutions to big human problems.
So let me ask you a question: do you feel little in your own eyes? Do people tend to think you are too little to amount to much? Do you want to overcome the fear that has held you back in life? Do you struggle with your desires and wants and would like to get to a place where you have pure and holy desires, just like your Father? Would you like to be someone whom God can use to bring divine solutions to big human problems? At Grace Life Center, we can help become a person who lives their life to the fullest and can be used by God to bring divine solutions to human problems, by the grace of God alone. We would love to hear from you. Complete the form below and one of our pastors will reach out to you immediately. God bless.