When my son, Joseph, was a junior in high school, he felt led to attend the "See You at the Pole" event for the first time. It was his heart's desire to join fellow Christian students and teachers who gathered around their school flagpole to pray and praise the Lord. But when the actual morning arrived, Joseph was having second thoughts about attending because he was so gripped by fear that he felt sick to his stomach. After we sought God in prayer, Joseph "set his face like flint" (Isaiah 50:7) and took his place next to all the other believers gathered at his school in the Lord's name. My son met a lot of wonderful new Christian friends that day, and they discussed the possibility of starting a Bible club, and holding weekly meetings on campus for Bible study and prayer. The Lord gave me a burden to pray for this club to become a reality, even though there had never been a successful one in the history of the school. Weeks turned into months without any sign of a club forming, but I persevered in prayer. Then Joseph shared with me how he felt that God was calling him to approach the school authorities about starting weekly meetings. As he began the process of securing permission to launch a Bible club on campus, the Lord opened one door after another and our dream became a reality. Under Joseph's leadership and the subsequent leadership of my younger son, John, this club touched and changed the lives of a multitude of students from our community and many others.

When I was praying for a high school Bible club, it never occurred to me that the Lord would use my own son to start it. Many of the other Christian students had been believers a lot longer than my son, and in many ways, he lacked their spiritual maturity. Nevertheless, God chose Joseph and used him in awesome ways for His glory. I have no doubts that Joseph's attendance at the "See You at the Pole" event that day had everything to do with the Lord choosing him to launch and lead the club. And I also believe that my faithfulness in prayer for the club was linked to God's choosing my own son to start it. In addition, the Lord blessed me with some of the most exciting and rewarding years of my life by making me the "club mom."

As my family and I have walked with God over the years, He has taught us how one small act of obedience on our part can lead to major blessings. Many people are waiting for a "big event" in order to obey God. What they fail to realize is that if they don't obey Him in small matters, their "big event" may never come. Jesus said, "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones." (Luke 16:10 NLT) Make no mistake--before the Lord will use us to make a difference in this world, we will be tested. We will have to prove to God that He can count on us to obey Him in seemingly insignificant matters, simply because He's the One doing the talking. The truth is that no job that He assigns us is insignificant in His sight. When the Lord leads us "just to pray" for someone or about something, we are partnering with Him just as much as when we're performing a task that brings us considerable recognition. You can bet that when God gives us a seemingly small matter to attend to, Satan will try to convince us that how we respond won't make any difference. He will try to get us to take our obedience casually. This is just one of the many tactics the enemy uses to try to keep us from fulfilling our God-given purpose and potential.

I encourage you to begin praying today that the Lord will make you sensitive and obedient to His voice, even in the smallest of matters. Rest assured that heartfelt prayers like these will open the door for God to fill your life with more purpose and meaning than you ever dreamed possible!

Prayer: Lord, give me a new awareness of how important it is for me to obey You even in the smallest of matters. Make me sensitive and obedient to Your voice, and give me discernment to recognize the voice of the enemy. Don't let me miss out on Your perfect plans for my life. Thank You for making me faithful in little things so that I can be faithful also in much! (Luke 16:10 NASB)