Wednesday, June 23, 2010

A Little at a Time: A "God at Work" Story


A few weeks ago I tackled a huge summer project--reading Les Miserables. I've been wanting to read if for ages and finally added the title to my Christmas list this past year. I received it only to put off reading it, intimidated by the size of the paperback. Finally, I decided to follow a reading plan posted on a friend's blog.

On Day One of the plan she addressed those of us who might find a 1,400-page novel a bit daunting. She pointed out that reading 125 pages per week would get us through the book in one summer. I could do 125 pages in a week! Just in case I broke that down into daily readings, making it even more do-able.

Three weeks after starting the book I am rapidly approaching page 500. I am in love with the characters and can see why the friend who pasted the reading plan names Les Miserables as her favorite book of all time. And to think I would have missed the experience of this classic if I had continued allowing the hugeness of the book to hold me back.

Some things are just too big to face all at once. Then we receive the gentle reminder, "Just do one tiny bit at a time" and not only find that we can handle it, but that we can tackle even more than expected.

How comforting to know that, like this book that could double as a murder weapon, God allows us to take on His assignments in managable bits. Our trials, lessons, and opportunities to minister to others come in chapters rather than overwhelming volumes. Okay, I take that back. We might get what look like overwhelming volumes but He lovingly takes us through them a chapter at a time. In those moments when we find ourselves crying, "God, I can't do this!" He takes us by the hand, sits us down, and helps us break what we have down. "Today, all you have to do is this. Tomorrow I'll show you the next step." What a kind God we have!

Thank you, Father. It's true that you don't give more than we can bear. You assign us a few pages at a time, face the task with us, and often take us further than we thought possible. Help me to remember this as I face life's tough reading assignments.

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