As I listen to both my friends and my life coaching clients, I am continually hearing a theme that reflects my own struggle:

A battle with feeling small and inadequate in a world that is about being big.  

But why is this infatuation with big having such an impact on women devoted to the Lord, steeped in the Word, and committed to living out a Christ-centered identity? What, exactly, is the problem?  And more importantly, how is it impacting our children? What is it teaching them about how to live for the glory of God if our focus is elsewhere? It seems to be the unguarded moment that causes us to feel too small in a really big world. We’re triggered by…

clicking that link to a post about…
watching that young mom joyfully cuddling her baby…
passing that woman in her skinny jeans…
seeing that book launch on…
hearing about that romantic vacation…
finding out that older woman is mentoring that younger woman…

That.

That is what happens when we starts with seeing someone else in a light that only shines on their haves and overlooks their have-nots. If we want  what others have, we need to be willing to take BIG with the BAD!

that skinny woman is suffering from a life-long eating disorder
that book release is about to cause a mental breakdown
that romantic vacation is to soothe their fifth miscarriage
that older woman is stepping in to help their failing marriage

This obsession with BIG is really a comparison trap marked by jealousy and a lack of contentment. It is an outright tactic of the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy us, keeping us from the fullness of life our BIG God promises (John 10:10).  As I write in Impact My Life,

“The Father of Lies doesn’t have to work very hard to get into a woman’s secret thoughts and render her utterly insecure…”

Yes, rendered insecure, small, and feeling useless because of a stronghold of sin  — sin that needs to be ‘fessed up and fought against.  Sin that causes me, yes me, to miss the opportunity to speak life into my kids over that little heart-wound moment, while I’m focused on my next BIG idea. Sin that distracts me from that one chance to encourage a sister-in-Christ with hope she needs in her right-now-mommy-moment, while I’m looking for…fill in the BIG blank.

Matthew 6:20-21
Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

God has convicted me that when we get caught up in living for the BIG — big dreams, big accomplishments, big acknowledgements — we give up the BIGNESS of God that has an eternal reward!

We were meant to live for a BIG God with an eternal perspective as we embrace the sacred and small that is earthly bound.Living small is hard. It is counter-cultural. It takes humility and accountability within the body of Christ. Stepping into that phone call confessional in order to be set straight by love-spoken-true words {thank you, Andrea} is no small moment.  But when Christ is at work in our friendships, we can find the encouragement to live eternally big but earthly small. And by doing so, we can help each other to fill our small roles in the bigness of God’s kingdom work.

Our lives are anything but small, but it is the small and sacred things that matter much to our BIG God.

What does it look like for you to stop living for the big and embrace the sacred and small?

Is there a friend who can hold you accountable in living small?

How could living small benefit your children?

I encourage you to spend time with the Lord using this free download to embrace the sacred and small in your life today.