“It’s a day of small things…”

I hate that phrase. Some worthy has come up with it to explain the lack of meaningful growth in the “church.”

We look around and churches have closed and others are failing. Other “churches” seem to be growing, even though they preach error and exhibit bad behaviour. We should be worried about the state we are in. Western Christianity has become decidedly murky and often, has no different a message than the self-help gurus.

The phrase is used to cover over the cracks and give an excuse for the breakdown of godliness in the church of Christ.

Why is God not showing Himself and calling many people into the Kingdom of Christ.?

Why is our society and the moral outlook of these rich nations in the West, so dark?

Are we in a kind of dark ages, where the truth about God is veiled and misunderstood.?

There have been times of blessing in places, but there seems to be a general coldness and lack of earnestness in the minds and hearts of people in the West. The rampant materialism has dampened our need for God.

The Prophets are full of the messages we need to hear. Repent, turn, revolutionise your thinking, change your mind, and seek the Lord. These are the people of God who are being addressed. They have embraced life in the world and have loosened their grip on faith and sacrifice. We do not believe that God requires holiness and a turning from all sin. And so we seek a softer way, a way that will calm the conscience but is not complete surrender to God. And so the deterioration starts. Our hearts beat a bit slower and no one challenges us about it. We get involved in “committed doing” and the busyness covers over our emptiness towards God.

The steps away from loving God with all our “heart soul strength and mind,”are all too sure. We end up just going through the motions and “church” fills a religious gap in our lives. Eventually we don’t invite people to church, nor are we able to speak to them personally, and so we are right into irrelevant.

The message of those prophets of old is massively relevant today. When we obey God and trust Him fully, He forgives us and He will lift us up to serve Him. God is not the problem in this situation – so our action and reaction is crucial. It is personal.

Do I want God?

Do I seek His will and ways every day.?

Am I concerned about those who are lost to God.?

The only change that matters is when we become people of deep humility before God. That will happen when we pray. Prayer is the power house, so may we go to that place of mercy and find the help we need in these cold days. Maybe God in His mercy will pour out His Spirit on us and it will become a day of great and glorious things, where God is magnified and the Lord Jesus is loved and adored. At that point in our lives, all will be well, and we will no longer be “small”