I remember a line from a movie, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Followed by, “It’s all small stuff.” Experience and the Holy Spirit have taught me to be very careful around the seemingly small stuff in my life. The older I get physically, the smaller an obstacle needs to be in order to trip me up. (Sometimes I think a shadow might be all it takes.) I first realized I was getting old when my doctor started asking me every visit if I have fallen. Sometimes it is weakness, dizziness or vertigo that causes an elderly person to fall and seriously injure themselves, but most of the time they just trip over something small and lose their balance.
Sometimes the enemy puts a mountain in our path to distract and discourage us, but one of Satan’s favorite lies is, “That little thing won’t make any difference. How can that possibly harm you?” When I was young, Ouija boards were popular party games. It seemed innocent enough, but it provided a way for demons to enter the lives of unsuspecting players. Talk about playing with fire. What harm could it do to check my horoscope every day or consult a “fortune teller” just for the fun of it? The Holy Spirit has prompted me, “Try it and you will find out the hard way.”
I have spent over thirty years in the pest control industry in the Chicago area with 17 years as a trainer. I remember a friend from the South telling me about his first encounter with fire ants. He was digging in his garden when he came across an anthill. Thinking nothing of it, he dug it up and thousands of tiny red ants came pouring out to defend their seven or eight foot underground nest. He quickly found out why they are called fire ants when they began biting him. Their bite is very painful and they have actually been known to kill animals or small children with bites all over their body. I used to thank God that in northern Illinois I didn’t have to deal with fire ants, scorpions or Africanized (killer) bees. Just as that small anthill was connected to a dangerous threat, a small, seemly insignificant temptation can be connected to addiction or other serious spiritual consequences.
I’m not writing this to alarm or worry anyone. Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.” We need to pray about everything no matter how small or insignificant it may seem to be. When we do, the Holy Spirit will keep us from digging up unexpected trouble.
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