When my son was younger, he stumbled against a folding chair in my mother's dining room and broke his toe. Shortly after that, just for good measure, he did it again. He has never fully recovered from that second stumble. His toe continues to give him trouble more than ten years later. It isn't a constant problem. It doesn't impact his life greatly, except when he needs to jump, or push off with that toe. But it is there, nagging, a reminder of his past mistake.
I have very dry skin, particularly on my hands, so I get paper cuts a lot. They aren't a terrible injury, and I find it amazing how much a tiny little slice into my finger can hurt. It isn't a constant problem, and they generally heal within a few days. But while they last, they are painful and disruptive, impacting on my ability to do many of my daily tasks.
Each time we feel those small pains, we are reminded how lucky we are that we don't have to live with the disruption all the time. Small things are just that - small things. We aren't stuck with them forever.
We have a lot of small things in life that set us back. They pile up, day after day, and sometimes we allow those little things to drag us down or hold us back from enjoying life fully. When we keep our small mistakes with us, holding on to the tiny pain of the little cut or jab that life inflicts, we get stuck in the misery of small problems instead of seeing the joy of the bigger picture.
Paper cuts and stumbles - they are really just tiny mishaps in a big life. I am grateful today for the small things that remind me to see the bigger picture of the life God has given me.
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