Week 26 – June 23-29, 2024: God is in the Little Stuff
This week’s daily readings:
June 23-29, 2024
This week’s devotional:
God is in the Little Stuff
by The Rev. Justin Elerath
Scripture:
Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
— Psalm 150 (NIV)
Reflection:
I was recently changing brakes on my truck. Changing brakes is usually an easy job: buy parts in advance and crank on a few bolts. The satisfaction that comes with the job is amazing – it’s so significantly noticeable with so little effort!
I jacked up the front driver’s side corner, took the wheel off, and placed a jack stand under the frame. This was the first time I had done this task on this vehicle, so I inspected the rotor, the calipers, the pads, comparing the old pieces to the parts I had recently purchased. Something was off: the design of the new pads was the best design I have seen since my 1970 Mercedes. The design enables replacement of the pads with no tools, once the truck is on jack stands, and as long as you don’t need to replace the rotors. When I looked at the parts I noticed they didn’t match; the pads were not the same design. So, I replaced the rotor with the one I had labeled “Front,” put the old pads back on, and ordered new pads online. It wasn’t the end of the world, but I wasn’t going to finish that day. Once the parts arrived and I was able to make time, I put everything together and something was still not right: there was an awful squeal that should not be present with new pads and rotors.
By now, it was getting dark. I took a flashlight and inspected the parts through the wheel and I could see witness marks on the rotor where the pads were rubbing. I also noticed that the retaining clips that hold the pins in the rotors had fallen out. After some inspection, I discovered that the rotors were actually the rear rotors and the front ones were not in the box labeled “Front.” After obtaining the correct parts and some more time in the driveway, everything went back together. But there was still a noise that didn’t belong. Using a flashlight to inspect the new hardware, I noticed the return springs were malfunctioning. It appeared they were made with the wrong material. I tested this out by installing the old return springs on the new pads. Now everything was working!
It’s easy to go about daily life and lose sight of what God is actually doing on your behalf. If God controls the outcome of dice, and we really believe that, then we also have to believe that God is in the little stuff. Psalm 150 talks about praising God completely, praising God with enthusiasm, and praising God in all of life for his complete character. If the rear rotors were properly labeled, there would have been no interference between the pads and rotor, and I would not have noticed the pins that were backing out. If I hadn’t noticed the pins backing out, I would have experienced a very frustrating and dangerous situation on the side of the road. We should always praise God over the little things – praise God even for those things that don’t go our way – because, in the end, all these things that were individually not ideal worked together for my good!
God is so good and we sometimes need to just slow down and notice.
Prayer:
I praise you, Lord, for all that you are and for all that you do in my life – even those things I fail to realize at the time. You alone have the power to make good things happen. I see the love in your actions, and I praise you for your greatness! Help me to look for you in the little stuff and to praise you loudly and joyfully with that wondrous realization. With my every breath, let me never cease to praise you, my Lord and my God! Amen