Day 1: Bob Blickens
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” Luke 12:25-26 (AMP)
I want to start by saying that what I am about to share with you is not something that I think is unique to me or more significant than anything experienced in the lives of those of you who are a reading this. We live in a broken world, and at some point, in every life, the truth of that reality is made painfully known to each of us.
My story may be vastly different from yours, or it may resonate with what you have personally experienced in your life’s journey. Either way, I believe that there is always something that each of us gains whenever we hear how God intervenes to bring light into the dark times that we all inevitably face in this world.
My story begins in August 2022, when my wife of 51 years went to be with the Lord after dealing with cancer for many years. The next year in December 2023, having never been hospitalized for anything, I underwent major heart surgery. Then less than a year after that, in October 2024 I faced a diagnosis requiring surgery for colon cancer. When I was discharged from the hospital after that surgery, I thankfully came home to a hot shower and a small meal, then got into a comfortable, warm bed and had a dreamless sleep until waking up about 1AM.
My first thoughts turned to the 3 unexpected and unwanted events that happened to me over the last three years, and I found myself calling them to God’s attention as if to remind Him of what I had been through. And as I recounted the magnitude of these events to Him, He very clearly said these words to me: “Little things.” I can very clearly remember my response: “Little things? There was nothing little about them! These were by any measure very BIG THINGS that happened to me! Anyone can see that. And frankly, after three years in a row I’m worried about what big unexpected and unwanted thing I might be facing next year.”
What followed my words of protest makes me very thankful that the Lord, as David reminds us in Psalm 103, is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.” And so it was that God patiently heard my complaint, and then quietly pointed me to Jesus’ words in the verses quoted above: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
And then it was clear; Little things. In the eyes of our Lord, all things involving this physical life are just little things: loss, sickness, brokenness and so many other troubles that make living in this world difficult. God cares about us through those things of course, but what He truly desires for us is that we focus on Kingdom things – things that are eternal and that are not looked upon as great or small, for all Kingdom things have the same eternal value. And so it is that God calls us to look on the circumstances and experiences we face in this world – whether daunting or desirable – as little things. And also to look to see if, in some way as we face them, we can transform those little things into Kingdom things for His glory and our joy.
And how can we do that? It happens when we allow the power of God’s Spirit in Christ to work through us. And how does that happen? It happens through obedience - when we surrender our grip on the things of this natural world and embrace our spiritual place as Kingdom people. And that, my friends, is what God wants for each of us. Oswald Chambers puts it this way: “God’s perfect will [is] for the natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience” (My Utmost for His Highest, Dec 10).
As our trust in Jesus grows, He will walk faithfully with us through every difficult thing that we face in this life, always reminding us that we are Kingdom people and pointing us to the truly good and great things that await those who seek first God’s Kingdom and righteousness. And when Jesus is Lord of our lives, He changes our perspective, as expressed so beautifully in lines from the hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus: “The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
By letting Jesus be King of the little things, He will always point us to the good things. (Prayer)
Lord Jesus, in the wise words of a Puritan’s prayer, teach us the happy art of attending to things temporal with a mind intent on things eternal. You are truly the Way, the Truth and the Life. Thank You for showing us the way to put aside our anxieties and worries over worldly things and to focus on You, the Eternal Truth. Thank you for enabling us to walk among little things and see through them to the truly great and eternal things. Help us to trust and obey You more each day as we continually offer our sacrifices of praise for Your unfailing love and faithfulness. We ask it all in Your Mighty Name. Amen.
Bob Blickens
I want to start by saying that what I am about to share with you is not something that I think is unique to me or more significant than anything experienced in the lives of those of you who are a reading this. We live in a broken world, and at some point, in every life, the truth of that reality is made painfully known to each of us.
My story may be vastly different from yours, or it may resonate with what you have personally experienced in your life’s journey. Either way, I believe that there is always something that each of us gains whenever we hear how God intervenes to bring light into the dark times that we all inevitably face in this world.
My story begins in August 2022, when my wife of 51 years went to be with the Lord after dealing with cancer for many years. The next year in December 2023, having never been hospitalized for anything, I underwent major heart surgery. Then less than a year after that, in October 2024 I faced a diagnosis requiring surgery for colon cancer. When I was discharged from the hospital after that surgery, I thankfully came home to a hot shower and a small meal, then got into a comfortable, warm bed and had a dreamless sleep until waking up about 1AM.
My first thoughts turned to the 3 unexpected and unwanted events that happened to me over the last three years, and I found myself calling them to God’s attention as if to remind Him of what I had been through. And as I recounted the magnitude of these events to Him, He very clearly said these words to me: “Little things.” I can very clearly remember my response: “Little things? There was nothing little about them! These were by any measure very BIG THINGS that happened to me! Anyone can see that. And frankly, after three years in a row I’m worried about what big unexpected and unwanted thing I might be facing next year.”
What followed my words of protest makes me very thankful that the Lord, as David reminds us in Psalm 103, is “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.” And so it was that God patiently heard my complaint, and then quietly pointed me to Jesus’ words in the verses quoted above: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
And then it was clear; Little things. In the eyes of our Lord, all things involving this physical life are just little things: loss, sickness, brokenness and so many other troubles that make living in this world difficult. God cares about us through those things of course, but what He truly desires for us is that we focus on Kingdom things – things that are eternal and that are not looked upon as great or small, for all Kingdom things have the same eternal value. And so it is that God calls us to look on the circumstances and experiences we face in this world – whether daunting or desirable – as little things. And also to look to see if, in some way as we face them, we can transform those little things into Kingdom things for His glory and our joy.
And how can we do that? It happens when we allow the power of God’s Spirit in Christ to work through us. And how does that happen? It happens through obedience - when we surrender our grip on the things of this natural world and embrace our spiritual place as Kingdom people. And that, my friends, is what God wants for each of us. Oswald Chambers puts it this way: “God’s perfect will [is] for the natural to be changed into the spiritual through obedience” (My Utmost for His Highest, Dec 10).
As our trust in Jesus grows, He will walk faithfully with us through every difficult thing that we face in this life, always reminding us that we are Kingdom people and pointing us to the truly good and great things that await those who seek first God’s Kingdom and righteousness. And when Jesus is Lord of our lives, He changes our perspective, as expressed so beautifully in lines from the hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus: “The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
By letting Jesus be King of the little things, He will always point us to the good things. (Prayer)
Lord Jesus, in the wise words of a Puritan’s prayer, teach us the happy art of attending to things temporal with a mind intent on things eternal. You are truly the Way, the Truth and the Life. Thank You for showing us the way to put aside our anxieties and worries over worldly things and to focus on You, the Eternal Truth. Thank you for enabling us to walk among little things and see through them to the truly great and eternal things. Help us to trust and obey You more each day as we continually offer our sacrifices of praise for Your unfailing love and faithfulness. We ask it all in Your Mighty Name. Amen.
Bob Blickens
Posted in Boast in the Lord \'25
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