The little foxes spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. Song of Solomon 2:15, NKJV
In Japan, the part would have cost 75 yen. In the Philippines, it would have gone for 25 pesos. In the United States, the replacement cost would have been 46 cents. And what was it? A coinsize circuit in an expensive computer that monitored Russian missile systems. But when it failed, the computer flashed a message to the Pentagon saying that the United States was about to receive a Russian missile attack.
The message, of course, was incorrect; but nonetheless, when the lights came on hundreds of military personnel ran to their stations ready for the attack, which, thank God, did not come. Pilots ran to their planes ready to lift off at a moment’s notice. Missile technicians prepared to launch counteroffensive missiles, but it was all a mistake–an expensive one, however, caused by a tiny part that did not function.
Years ago, Solomon wrote, “The little foxes spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” In life there is a tendency to think, “This little bit does not count,” or “I can get by with it this time it will not matter.” But it does matter. It matters a great deal. It is an interesting fact: In the economy of God, there is no such thing as a small, insignificant part. In His creation, the whole is important, the small equally as important as the great.
Take, for instance, the tilt of the earth on its axis. If the tilt were more than the 23-1/2 degrees, the earth would become lopsided and ice deposits would form on the beneath side. Again, if the earth were less than 93 million miles from the sun, we would be too close and burn up; if we were further away, we would freeze to death in short order. When it comes to our planet Earth, God knew precisely what it took to make it function.
I have to conclude that the same applies to our lives. If God has a will for our universe, which demands that the small receive equal importance with the great, He also has a will about the small things of life: the bread and butter, rice and fish decisions, which, at the time, we think do not matter. But when they go wrong, like the little component in the computer, they cause the red lights to flash all over the place. Do you ever pause long enough to pray about those little things, the little decisions, the little challenges? You should.
Paul wrote, “In everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Another version puts it, “Pray about everything….” “Everything?” you may ask. That is quite an order. Yes, but it is God’s plan to bring Himself into our planning to insure that the little things flow as smoothly as the big things.
On one occasion, a giant Saturn rocket was winging its way towards a rendezvous with the moon 229,000 miles in space when a part, about as inexpensive as the circuit that failed to function in the computer, broke down and the entire mission had to be aborted, one whose cost was in the tens of millions.
Life does not usually disintegrate with one big blast; it is the little things that we must protect: relationships, decisions, plans and events because our Heavenly Father has a will about them, too. This means we can tackle the little things of life with the same gusto as the big, realizing that there is no difference between the small and the great. In the economy of God everything is important.
Resource reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-11