Small Moments Might Just be the Big Ones, by Ashley Anthony
Recently, a friend brought over a milkweed stem, freshly snipped from her garden. I squinted to find the tiny eggs clinging to the bottom of the leaf, just waiting for the opportunity to hatch into caterpillars.
“They’re so… small!” Someone giggled.
In the following days, the caterpillars hatched from their eggs, eating the leaves and growing larger each hour. We named them, logged their growth, and observed their bodies wiggling from side to side. Each stage of their lives brought delight to my kids and to me. Each stage, no matter how small and whether my eyes could spot the growth or not, was necessary for the next.
In their own way, these fragile eggs and the subsequent stages reminded me of the spiritual life. We might daily read Scripture, pray, serve, and worship, but we might find they don’t always produce fruit as quickly as we’d like them to. Growth seems slow and sometimes tedious. These small moments—do they really make a difference at all?
The life of the prophetess Anna declares that these small moments do make a difference—and not only do they make a difference, but these small moments are more significant than we might think.
Knowing Jesus
Anna lost her husband when she was young and spent the rest of her years in a lifelong quiet time. Luke tells us, “She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37). Daily—hourly!—Anna committed her life to knowing her God more, spending time with him, learning to love and trust him.
She also spent her years waiting for the Messiah, believing that God would fulfill the prophets' promises.
“All of her worship-filled days and nights grew her relationship with the living God. And when the day came that she finally met him face-to-face, she knew who he was.”
After many, many years of waiting, one day, she saw him! Mary and Joseph brought young Jesus to the temple, and something about him testified to her God-fearing heart: “I know him! He’s finally here! The Messiah is here!” Immediately, she thanked God and told anyone who would listen that the Messiah had come (Luke 2:38).
All of her worship-filled days and nights grew her relationship with the living God. And when the day came that she finally met him face-to-face, she knew who he was—she knew that Jesus was the God she had worshiped for so many years at the temple (Col. 1:15).
Anna’s daily time worshiping her Lord grew and matured her knowledge of him—it grew and matured her relationship with him.
Anna was not a Bible study leader. She didn’t travel the region evangelizing or promoting her newest book. There were probably few living people interested in her life. But we find her in Scripture because she spent her life worshiping Jesus, and when she saw him, she knew him.
Knowing Jesus Leads to Mission
The fruit of Anna’s obedience extended beyond just her own spiritual life. Luke tells us that “coming up at that very hour, [Anna] began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38).
Anna’s countless years of intentional time with God produced belief.
This belief produced a certainty that God was ready to fulfill his promises.
This certainty in God’s faithfulness allowed her to know Jesus when she saw him.
Recognizing Jesus produced thanksgiving.
This thanksgiving produced a desire to speak of Jesus to anyone who might listen.
And—we can imagine—this sharing produced belief and thanksgiving in even more people who had been waiting for the Messiah. He had come!
“Our lives and words, grown in the soil of knowing God, can point others to him. ”
The Israelites had been waiting for the Messiah for years, with many prophecies and traditions pointing to his coming. Anna knew that the redeemer of Jerusalem had finally come; she knew that her redeemer was finally here. Knowing and recognizing God drew Anna to speak about him to anyone who might listen.
Our words about God draw from the well of our time with him. If we don’t know him, why would we speak of him? And why would we talk about him if we don’t want to talk to him? Our lives and words, grown in the soil of knowing God, can point others to him.
Knowing Jesus in Eternity
We don’t know if Anna saw Jesus again in her lifetime—we’re not told. But we can be sure that when her life ended and she beheld God again, face to face, she knew him (Matt. 5:8).
Each moment that we spend with the Lord is valuable. Often, these moments seem small and inconsequential—like tiny eggs on a stem of milkweed—but they’re not. Each moment spent with God draws us to know, love, worship, and speak about him more. Every small moment with God is—in its own right—a big moment.
When our butterfly finally emerged from her chrysalis, we marveled at her loveliness—a loveliness forged in the life cycle of egg, caterpillar, and chrysalis, every stage necessary for the next, every stage spoken for in the maturity of our butterfly.
In the same way, each moment spent in Scripture, prayer, service, and worship on this earth is a moment spent with a living Redeemer. Each moment is one that will draw us into deeper affection for Christ, one that will change us from the inside out, one that we’ll take with us into eternity.
One day, like Anna, we’ll see Jesus face to face in heaven (Rev. 22: 3–4). And when our eyes first behold him, we’ll know him. All of our time spent with our Lord on this earth will have been laid down like a foundation on which we’ll have eternity to build.
Until then, God has made a way for our souls to know and love our living Redeemer. As we meet with him, we can remember that our time is eternally valuable in the hands of a Redeemer who delights in meeting us in the small moments.
Ashley Anthony is a teacher and seminary student, wife to Matt and mom to four little ones 7 and under. She loves serving her church in Wheaton, IL, and writing in the margins. She loves to connect on Instagram!
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