The Yellow Shirt

The Yellow Shirt

Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.

John 6:11

Several years ago I attended a women’s conference where the organizers shared about an upcoming retreat for single moms that they would be putting on the next month. They asked us if we’d be willing to donate new clothes for the moms who would be attending, explaining that single moms are often so busy taking care of their kids that they put themselves last. The retreat was being put on not only to encourage these women but also to give them some very practical things, like new clothes, that they could use in their everyday lives.

I sat listening, moved by their plea for clothing. I immediately thought of the new yellow shirt I had just bought that afternoon and felt a small nudge to donate it. I put it out of my mind, thinking it was such a small thing. Immediately I felt God impress this question upon my heart: But can you obey me in the small things? In that moment I knew I needed to give the shirt away, and the next morning, as I came back for the second day of the conference, I did just that.

The funny thing about the shirt I gave? This small thing? Because it was yellow, a color I normally don’t wear, it stood out in my mind. All summer long, as I would take walks and spend time outside, I would remember that shirt and pray for the single mom who received it.

God can use even the smallest of things to fill a need. God is not concerned with our actions only but also with the motives of our hearts. Just like the boy who gave his small lunch to Jesus as an act of obedience could’ve never known that it would actually, miraculously, feed over five thousand people, we never know how God will multiply our small acts of kindness each day. Don’t miss God in the small things.

—Kendra

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

When you’re tempted to write off an act of kindness as too small or insignificant, pray that God would use it, and then do it anyway.