LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT

Sometimes we may think that our accomplishments are very small or very insignificant;  in fact, our hymn story today is really the intertwining of many small events that God used to bring about some very big results!

It was a very cold and wintery night when Canadian, Fred Suffield, awoke to an urgent pounding on his door;  a half-frozen man reported that a train had stalled in the blizzard, and the passengers were in danger of freezing to death.  Lighting a lantern, Fred followed the man to the site and led the travelers back to his house.  Kittie, one of the passengers, wrote him a thank you note.  Fred replied, and Kittie wrote back.  Their correspondence led to courtship and to marriage.

Sometime later, Fred and Kittie attended a church in Ottawa pastored by Rev. A.J. Shea;  there, they gave their lives to the Lord.  As they grew in Christ, they entered the ministry of evangelism.  One summer, they invited Shea’s teenage son, George Beverly, to spend a month with them in Westport, Ontario where they were holding evangelistic meetings. 

One night, accompanied by Kittie, George Beverly attempted to sing, but his voice cracked on the high notes.  He vowed never to sing again! Kittie would not hear of this and suggested that he sing in a lower key.  He did…and as we know now, kept on singing, and singing, and singing! 

In June 2000, Billy Graham came to Nashville, Tennessee for a four-night mission.  George Beverly Shea, then 92 years old, rose to sing.  His rich baritone voice broke into a song he had sung often.  It had been written 73 years before by Fred and Kittie Suffield.  It was called…LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT.

A stalled train, a thank you note, a chance attendance at church, meeting the Shea family, an encouragement to a young boy to keep singing, writing an inspired hymn…and God used George Beverly Shea to sing the gospel message around the world to more people than any other musician! 

Do not ever think that what you have to offer or have accomplished is small and insignificant…when God is guiding you!  LITTLE IS MUCH WHEN GOD IS IN IT!