Last week, I traveled to Arkansas to see my best friend from school at Hendrix. By car, it would have been an 8 hour drive, so I decided to fly instead. My trip that began as just a visit to see a friend soon turned into a tour of 5 different states and airports. Connections and layovers–I found myself jumping on a subway just to get to my concourse in Atlanta’s airport. In Denver’s airport, I rode on this long treadmill that stretched the length of the long, wide hall of gates. I soon found that the treadmill was not for riding on, though. It was for running on whenever you were late to your gate because the treadmill helped you speed down the long hall twice as fast.
In the sea of people–coming and going, eating and drinking, texting and talking–I felt so small…too small to ever be noticed in the hustle and bustle, too small to ever make a difference.
One Sunday in church, my pastor once asked the question, “Do you think you’re too small to make a difference? Have you ever spent the night alone in a room with a mosquito?” It took the congregation a couple moments longer to process the question than the pastor had thought, so he helped us out by saying, “You know! Bzzzzzzzzzz!” while flailing his arm in the air. Everyone laughed, and the pastor’s joke had been received, even if just a little later than hoped for…
This thought popped into my head as I had boarded the plane, buckled my seatbelt and began to lift into the air. Gazing out my small window, I realized that I was small too, just like that mosquito.
Sure, our lives seem busy and seem to revolve around our own self here on earth, but from 38,500 feet, everything looks different in the light of God’s beauty and glory. We are so small and insignificant, and yet He loves us so much that he orchestrates every aspect of our lives (Psalm 139).
That’s when I began to wonder if the happiest people that I’ve ever met in my life were those who realized that they were just a mosquito, messengers sent to buzz around in their little flight path and to give other people something to scratch at….
I know just how that mosquito feels, Sarah. I feel the same way most of the time. There are times when I’ve wanted to be “bigger than life,” but now I realize that God has had something else in mind for me all along.
Still not sure what it is yet, though. But something.
E
E, No matter where you are or what is going on in your life, remember Ecclesiastes 3:10-12; 14-15….
I hope that this passage encourages you! God certainly does have plans for you (jeremiah 29:11-12), and He has already created them before you were even born. God is so personally involved in your life that He even knows how you feel–all of your fears, doubts, etc–before you even do (Psalm 139)! I’ve always wanted to have a “bigger than life” type plan for my life, too, but I began to see that I became more obsessed too with the method, rather than the Master.
Good luck, E, and rest assured that the Holy Spirit himself is praying for you! (Romans 8:26-28).
Praying your day is filled with Sonshine,
Sarah 🙂