Hoping to Trust

 Our reading this morning will come from Luke 16:10: “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.”

The more I think about this verse, the more I see its power.

We look around in this world and we see prices going up, groceries cost more, rent, fuel, everything seems to cost more now than it did before and all it seems to do is make us feel like we have so little. The same grocery bill doesn’t fill up the cart like it used to. The same price at the pump doesn’t fill up the tank like it used to. Everywhere you look you’re being reminded about how little we have and how much everything costs.

Friends, don’t let the world get you down. Don’t let the message from the world drown out the message of the cross. Don’t let the hardships we face now attack our faith in a way that keeps us from our future glory. The Lord tells us through His word that sometimes we will suffer and experience trials and hardship. He tells us that when these things happen, we must not let the daily trouble overtake our eternal blessings. He encourages us to have faith, and to “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Gal 6:2).

Jesus makes these sorts of worries a “faith issue” and let’s be honest, that’s a challenging thought. Jesus tells the story of a woman who gave even when she had so little (Mark 12:41-44). Jesus tells us that the big and amazing things we think He can’t do through us actually only take a small amount of faith (Mat. 17-20).

Jesus tells us through James that as big as my problems are, my current worries, my fears, or as big as my doubts might be, or as overwhelming as my life is that with God by my side these things are small and will be defeated. “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (Jam. 4:14b). Lord, let me use this time I have that is here for a little while for You.

We like to think we have just a little and so that means we might only have a little to give, or only a little with which to honor God, or only a little to bless others with.  

But Jesus tells us we’re thinking too small. He says to “be faithful in a little” (Luke 16:10) and you will be blessed.