by Danielle Pickinpaugh
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.” Luke 16:10
I remember when I was little, I went to church camp every summer. And every summer, I came home telling my parents I was going to be a missionary. I was going to travel all over the world loving on people, telling them about the gospel, and baptizing new believers in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And in true little Danielle fashion, nothing was going to stop me.
Now, twenty years later, I have never traveled to another country, been on a mission trip, or even gotten my passport. Moreover, I have never lived anywhere besides Kentucky.
About 5 years ago, this fact really bothered me. I was pursuing my doctorate, and I remember feeling so alone. There were some Christians I worked with, but we were the minority. Most of the time, I was questioned how I could be a scientist and believe in Jesus-for it’s not logical to believe in a Savior. That on top of the daily struggle to prove myself worthy and obtain valid data would leave me with a feeling of exhaustion. I felt like I was constantly treading water, and as soon as I caught my breathe, another wave would crash upon me. The feeling of defeat and failure were all but too near, and I begin to question why I was even there in the first place. Did I fail in some way to never go where I thought I needed go? Was I disappointment to God because I didn’t achieve those dreams I had when I was little about being a missionary? Was I even expanding his Kingdom at all?
I had it in my mind that I was meant for something big. To travel to wondrous places. To spread his name to many countries. To be a martyr for His cause. And yet, here I was stuck in lab for another long night.
I cried out to God, “What if I just quit now? Why don’t I just become a missionary so I can truly serve you and bring people to you.”
And of course, God being the sweet Lord that He is, answered ever so gently, “Name all the people in your lab.”
So I did. I named them one by one. Then He asked, “Tell me what country they are from?”
And I begin to name their country, “China, Germany, India, Brazil, and Iraq.”
Then God said, “So why would you want to travel all over the world, when I’ve brought the world to you?”
I started crying. I knew at that moment I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I might not have ever traveled to another country, gotten my passport, or lived anywhere by Kentucky. However, if I did, I never would have been able to meet all the different people from all those different countries that worked in my lab. I never would have been able to talk to them about God’s grace, his love, and his patience. I never would have been able to encourage them in Christ and pray for them. I never would have been able to debate them logically about why God is real. And if I wasn’t there to talk about the Lord to them, who was going to be there to do it?
Just like Shiphrah and Puah, there are no small roles. They weren’t called to be Moses and deliver the Israelites out of Egypt. However, without them, Moses would have never been born. They saved him as a baby, so he later could save the nation of Israel.
Don’t ever underestimate your role in God’s plan. You may think its small, but in God’s grand scheme, one small act of obedience will change how history is written.