The Power Of Being Faithful In The Little Things

Mother Teresa said, “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.“

It sounds like an easy enough quest, because big changes and big projects may feel intimidating. However, the little things can be so hard to do.

We often won’t even consider the little things because they may seem silly, ridiculous, perhaps even useless.

Being faithful in the little things, perhaps, requires a rare set of strengths that make a whole lot of difference.

I have been thinking about one of my favorite Bible stories: the one about Naaman, which we find in II Kings 5:1-14. This story has always resonated with me and it’s not the first time I’ve discussed it with you.

Naaman was a good man and a Syrian soldier of great prestige, greatly affected with leprosy… an incurable disease at the time.

After obtaining gold, silver and fine linens to pay the king for restoration of his health, Naaman went to see the prophet Elisha, (yes, that’s my firstborn daughter’s name, but it’s pronounced differently) whose servant told him to go dip seven times in the Jordan river.

Wow. What a great opportunity, huh?

The Jordan river was conveniently close.

Bathing was something that he already did anyway.

He would be done in a week!

Naaman was given a cure to an incurable disease, one that wouldn’t take much time, would require no money or resources, and would add zero effort to his daily chore load. 

But… Nope ma’am.

Naaman wasn’t happy.

He felt it was an insult.

He left.

Naaman felt justified in his indignation. I mean, “How could this crazy activity clean him and heal him from a deadly disease?” 

Naaman’s servants helped him see that his pride was interfering with his recovery, so he returned to Israel and dipped seven times in the Jordan and he was completely cured. He had the skin of a baby!

But it wasn’t the magic in the water that worked the miracle:

His humility cured him. 

His willingness cured him.

Being faithful in the little things cured him.

Sometimes the most seemingly insignificant acts of faith (or optimism, if you will) will work wonders, if only:

We get ourselves out of the way 

We open our minds to a new possibility

We take a little step in faith

Get yourself out of the way

Even though the original goal was to get healed, Naaman was now focusing on his expectation about how it should happen.

“Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.”

It’s so clear to me now!

He expected instant gratification. 

He was attached to his preconceived idea of how it would happen.

He was open to only one right way of doing things. 

Can you relate? I sure can.

I had an acquaintance who lived on base shortly after I gave birth to Elisha at the Naval Hospital in Camp Pendleton.

She came to meet the baby and asked if she could get herself a drink of water. I told her the cups were still in the dishwasher, and when she returned from the kitchen, she was annoyed.

Her husband, she complained, “loads the dishwasher in the wrong way – every.single.time!” 

Having never had access to a dishwasher and always having to be the dishwasher, I was in a bit of shock, because I was just grateful, and I’d be especially grateful if someone else even loaded it for me!

That night, as I rocked my colicky baby back and forth, I examined myself and found many things that I thought were done right only if done a certain way, and reflected how they made my life a lot harder. 

And e`ver since my dishwasher broke down a few months ago, I’ve pondered how much I took it for granted, because I’ve gotten sucked into the culture of getting what I want and getting things done in an instant, without working or waiting.

In times of crisis, we are forced to switch to survival mode, to go back to the basics, and stop demanding petty things we think we rightfully deserve.

Though it can be a pain, it can help us shed our ego and be more appreciative of what has been given to us. I’m grateful for my life in the slum because it gave me this perspective.

 Open your mind to a new possibility

I think it was Harvey McKay who said something like “Optimists are right. Pessimists are right also. It’s up to you what you choose to be.”

Since I have traveled all over the USA and to many countries of the world as a speaker and panelist at conferences for women entrepreneurs, I have met a lot of people in my life.

I have realized that success doesn’t come easily to those who are overly resistant, skeptical, and cynical, though I have to say I know that in many cases mistrust is more a consequence than a cause.

Disbelief is often a form of fear. It’s easier to complain and disregard a possibility than to work toward it.

The “what if it doesn’t work out?” can certainly stop us in our tracks.

My most monumental miracles have happened when all belief in myself was gone: 

When I believed in “something” greater than myself.

When I believed in someone else’s belief in me.

When I opened myself up to having a spec of faith in the midst of overwhelming fear.

One of my mentors calls this “having a corner of your mind open to the possibility.” That’s all you need. 

What if it does work? It could work.

What if I’m wrong? I could be wrong.

What if this person is right? They could be right.

You don’t have start a journey with unshakable, certain, and absolute belief. Willingness to believe is enough.

That’s why it’s easier to have an optimistic perspective of life when you have faith: it’s not about me or who I am, it’s about US and whose we are. 

Take a small step in faith

The little steps you take count.

The little steps shorten the distance.

The little steps build your strength.

When we are faithful in the little things is where we become strong in spite because of fear, adversity, turmoil, pain, disease, and/or any unpleasant circumstances. 

For Naaman, it was bathing in the Jordan once, then deciding to do it a second time, a third, … and all the way to the seventh.

Our lives are built in little steps. Taking a small step works when these steps are taken consistently, patiently… faithfully.

As one of our favorite elves says in Pixar’s Onward: You must “Believe with EVERY step!“

Faith is one of my gifts so I am one to take steps and leaps, braving to follow my passion, but I’ve learned that it is easy to get sidetracked, distracted, and discouraged in the middle.

Faithfulness is not a frivolous vehicle that lead us to our goals, dreams, and desires.

Faithfulness reveals character: it shows the kind of person you are, the person you want to be, the person you are becoming, because it measures your level of integrity in the unseen, mundane everyday choices you make:

A faithful person follows through without having to be reminded over and over.

A faithful person is one you can count on, no matter what.

A faithful person keeps their word, because their word is their bond.

A faithful person keeps their promises, even when it’s hard.

A faithful person shows remorse when they inevitably fail. 

In the King James Version of Luke, chapter 16, verse 10, we can find this promise:

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Being faithful in the little things allows us to be entrusted with greater things, because we prove our humility, our willingness, and our consistency.

Washing our hands, brushing our teeth, practicing self-care, saying Please and Thank You… it’s the little things!

What are those little things you’ve been given to be faithful on, to be grateful for? Gratitude helps us stay the course, taking the journey one step at a time.

How are you being faithful in the little things? We can all share our fails, but we rarely share our wins. Share examples we can learn from below!

Founder of the Positive MOM® and creator of the S.T.O.R.Y. System: a blueprint to craft and share powerful stories that will transform your results and help others do the same. Dr. Elayna Fernández is a single mom of 4, an award-winning Storyteller, Story Strategist, and Student of Pain. She’s a bestselling author, internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, and 5x TEDx speaker. She has spoken at the United Nations, received the President’s Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award, and was selected as one of the Top Impactful Leaders and a Woman of Influence by SUCCESS Magazine. Connect with Elayna at thepositivemom.com/ef and follow @thepositivemom. To receive a gift from Elayna, click HERE.

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