Recently, I had a problem at home that I couldn’t fix on my own.
It had to do with a fancy microwave.
A few months ago, I moved into a new apartment and got a very sophisticated microwave. It is a huge thing, slotted into a specially built space over the stove.
One evening, my mother, who wasn’t wearing her eyeglasses at the time, pushed some buttons trying to turn on the light in the bottom of the microwave that would light the stove, so she could see to share out her dinner from the pot. Unfortunately, she inadvertently put the microwave into a certain setting – demo mode – which meant it had no power to warm food anymore.
Being the problem-solver, fire-outer, crisis-manager I am, it meant this was one more issue for me to handle. I read through the user manual and did some troubleshooting. Still no solution. Tried some more. No change. I had the thought of calling a repair person but considered the hassle of time and money and the fact that until they showed up, the microwave would be virtually unusable. The situation was a major inconvenience.
On top of that, my mother was becoming agitated that the microwave wasn’t working and I was feeling anxious about a project I was working on that I needed to get done within a tight timeline. I just don’t have time for this right now! I thought in annoyance.
The only last-ditch solution would be to unplug the microwave and see if the new settings would clear and revert to the original. The problem was the plug was located behind the microwave and based on how it was set up, the heavy and huge microwave was wedged securely in the space. It was too much for me.
I went back to my laptop to resume what I was doing. I prayed. Well, I literally said: “God, I can’t fix this. I need you to sort this out for me. I leave it with you.”
In the next second, the power went out! Just for 20 seconds or so, enough time to cut power to the microwave. It was fixed. Back to normal.
Now you may be thinking: “You’ve got to be kidding! That was pure coincidence!” while rolling your eyes. The scientific mind would say there is no causal nexus between the prayer and what happened next. To be honest, I was surprised myself.
What I can say is that God answered my prayer in that moment. And I think He fixed that microwave to make a larger point to me.
He wanted me to know: “I care about ALL the problems you face - BIG and SMALL.”
The misconception- let’s help out God by handling it ourselves
Some of us have a mindset that God is only concerned about the major things in life, such as: relational disruptions, financial problems, job loss and sickness. We divide our problems into buckets. We give God the big ticket items: “God, help me find a spouse, save my marriage, have a child, protect my family” and so on.
Then we keep the little things we feel we can fix ourselves since, after all, we can’t approach the God of the Universe with them - He has bigger things to deal with. He has to contend with all the suffering and pain and struggles of people in the world, why would He care about the tiny things in your life? Let’s not bother him with that.
But this viewpoint, which we adopt thinking we’re “helping God out” by not “burdening” Him with our millions of small issues, directly contradicts the Word of God.
We are given very clear commands in the Bible:
“Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall” - Psalm Chapter 55 verse 22 (New Living Translation)
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” - 1 Peter Chapter 5 verse 7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” - Philippians Chapter 4 verses 6-7
Notice something. These burdens are not differentiated by size, magnitude or consequences. God doesn’t say: “give me the big things, while you keep the small ones.”
The bottom line is: we are to cast all of our burdens, our cares, on God.
The struggle to change our mindset
I know this feels counterintuitive. I am asking you to go against your learned behaviour and socialization.
When you were a child growing up, a marker of being grown was handling problems yourself. You didn’t run to Mummy and Daddy or the adults around you with everything. That’s what babies do. Big kids try to solve problems. You learnt independence by fixing progressively bigger problems yourself. Your parents affirmed you by saying “good job!” whenever you succeeded at that.
In the workplace, your boss trusts you to handle problems. You have full accountability for the tasks assigned to you. He or she doesn’t want you to come to their office every day with small issues that are within your authority to handle. Do that, and you will soon annoy them and risk your job.
You are probably thinking “the Creator of the Universe doesn’t have time for the petty troubles I face.”
First off, He made time. Literally. He created it. So it doesn’t constrain Him. He operates outside of it.
And if it matters to you, it matters to Him. It’s not petty if it bothers you.
Why does this matter?
Taking this approach doesn’t mean we are treating God like a celestial genie granting our every wish and responding to our every whim. Nor does it mean we throw our hands up in the air and don’t try to apply our brains to situations we face. God gave us our cognitive abilities too.
When we give God the small things in addition to the big ones, we are saying to Him: “I know you care about everything that affects me. They matter to you because I matter to you. I am secure and certain of your Love. I will demonstrate my child-like dependence on You by taking everything to You.”
It’s a recognition of His Love for us and it is an act of faith too. It is us saying: “I accept and believe Your Word.”
Every time I use the microwave, I am reminded of this lesson. I can go to him with my largest problems, but He is the God of small things too.
Sharma Taylor is a corporate attorney with a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Law from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. She won the 2017 Basil Sellers International Young Writers prize in the Press Service International young writer program, the 2019 Tronson Award (International) and the 2021 Basil Sellers award for International Senior Writers. Every day, she loves experiencing the beautiful surprises that God has stored up for her and longs to keep cultivating a servant-heart.