Last week, we as a church confronted a truth most of us resist: significance isn’t measured by size, visibility, or outcomes. Significance is measured by obedience. Not impressive obedience. Not platform‑building obedience. Just the simple, quiet kind that says, “Lord, I’ll do what You’ve put in front of me today.”
Paul shows us what that looks like in real people in 1 Thessalonians 1. And it’s not glamorous. It’s not strategic. It’s not the stuff of leadership podcasts. It’s small. It’s ordinary. And it’s exactly the kind of obedience God loves to multiply.
I want to share a recent experience with you.
I work in a field where training and technical skill matter. A few months ago, I was in a very detailed training session. For the first time with a specific program, I felt genuinely confident. We were doing a listen–do–teach model, and I finally felt like I owned it.
Then came the next step: a procedure involving a piece of equipment that touched a very raw part of my personal life.
My whole body reacted. My face must have been screaming because one of the instructors — a seasoned leader with a background in patient care — noticed. She had been watching me go from confident to undone. She didn’t call attention to it. She didn’t correct me. She simply caught my eye, smiled gently, and motioned for me to come over.
She put her arm around my shoulder and said, “What’s going on, friend?”
I started tearing up. My hands shook. My voice cracked.
“I just can’t do that part. I’m sorry. I just can’t.”
She didn’t shame me. She didn’t push me. She didn’t make it a moment. She simply said, “You don’t have to.”
I told her a little about my daughter — about her lungs collapsing as a newborn, about the ventilator, about how that memory still lives in my body. And how I didn’t feel capable of doing that procedure, especially in front of a room full of peers. Frankly speaking, admitting that was hard.
She nodded and said, “I’m so glad you told me. Sometimes we forget that people carry stories into these rooms.”
She took me to a quiet station and walked me through everything. I completed the training. I explained the process, the purpose, the outcomes — without having to perform the part that caused me to struggle.
It was such a small thing for her… It was significant for me.
She might not know it, but it changed how I teach. I pay more attention now. I listen better. I notice people.
She wasn’t trying to be significant. She wasn’t thinking about her title or her expertise. She wasn’t trying to be a hero. She simply noticed what was right in front of her — a colleague who was struggling. And God multiplied it.
Paul saw this same pattern in the Thessalonians.
When he writes to them in 1 Thessalonians 1, he doesn’t praise their size, their strategy, or their outcomes. He praises their obedience — their faithful work, their loving deeds, their enduring hope. Small things. Everyday things. Things that don’t look significant until God gets involved.
Paul says their work was produced by faith — the kind of faith Galatians 5:6 describes as “faith expressing itself through love.” Their labor was prompted by love — the kind Jesus says will mark His disciples in John 13:35. Their endurance was inspired by hope — the kind Jesus speaks of in John 16:33 when He says, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
And then Paul says something astonishing: their faith “rang out” everywhere. Their quiet obedience became a global testimony.
They didn’t plan that.
They didn’t intend that.
They didn’t strategize that.
They didn’t imagine that.
God amplified it.
I saw that same pattern again this past week.
At a company gathering, one of the speakers — look him up, he’s amazing: Shola Richards — introduced a new concept: kossip. It’s kind of the opposite of gossip. Instead of tearing people down behind their backs, you hype them up with the truth of their love in action.
During the session, someone at my table shared a story about a young man on our support team. He had gone out of his way to help her. I was surprised — it was the same person I was planning to kossip about. See how that works!
He had helped me the week before with a complex technical setup. He researched everything, sent me instructions, prepared what I needed, and made sure everything was ready on time. And then, after I told him I was nervous about messing something up, he created a little “Betsy phone‑a‑friend” chat with two technicians who were on call and available during each of my meetings. And yes — I needed them. When one of the devices wasn’t working, someone calmly asked, “Betsy, did you hit start?” It’s ok to laugh…it’s funny. At least he didn’t have to ask if I had plugged it in, right?
Later I learned he had volunteered to stay behind during the event where we were all kossiping about him, to keep things running smoothly with his department. During our kossip session, we decided to nominate him for a quarterly recognition — something no one in his role had yet received.
He wasn’t trying to be significant.
He wasn’t trying to be recognized.
He was simply doing his job — right where he was — the best way he knew how.
And God multiplied it.
Just like the Thessalonians.
The Thessalonians didn’t begin with the end in mind. They didn’t chase influence or visibility. They simply obeyed what was right in front of them — faithful work, loving deeds, enduring hope. And God wrote the ending. God amplified what they offered. God carried their witness farther than they ever could have imagined. That is the pattern of the Kingdom: small obedience in human hands becomes significant in God’s hands.
Obedience is your part. Significance is God’s part.
May we be a church known not for our size, but for our obedience.
Our obedience is all we own. The outcomes belong to God.
And in that truth, friends, there is real freedom — because Jesus carries what we cannot.
So walk in the small things with faithful work, loving deeds, and enduring hope.
Trust God with the outcomes.
Stay rooted in Christ, and be who you’re called to be — then watch what He does with that.
He can take what feels small and make it known to the ends of the earth.
Please help me share the good news of Jesus and how He can change your life, and our world!
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