That said, who would have expected that a failure to maintain a few pumps would result in such a great disaster? The few pumps comprise only a small portion of the entire MRT system. Had the maintenance team realised that the pumps could not be activated and that it would result in serious repercussions, they would have taken every maintenance schedule very seriously. Neither would they falsify maintenance records. People, however, sometimes take risk because they thought that cutting corners would not result in such serious consequences. Perhaps they thought that one would not be so unfortunate as to face disasters. Or perhaps they thought that there is no need to take things so seriously as it is only a minor issue.
This incident reminds us of the importance of being faithful in small things. Failing to manage well small matters may result in big disasters. We may also make the same mistake when we think that managing small matters perfunctorily or not handling small matters well is harmless. Such an attitude may not only lead us into trouble, it actually reflects a basic problem in the way we live: unfaithfulness. Some people might say that being unfaithful in small matters is not essential, as long as we are faithful in big matters. The Bible, however, disagrees:
A parable in Luke 19:11-27 talks about a master instructing his servants to do business with some money given to them. Later, those who worked hard and had earned interest were praised by the master: “’Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’” The biblical principle is opposite that of the world’s. How do you gauge if a person were capable of doing great things? See if he is faithful. How do you gauge if he is faithful? See if he works hard at doing small things. God regards as important faithfulness in small matters. The reason is that if we were not faithful in small matters, we would not be faithful in big matters.
As students, are we responsible in doing our best at learning and doing well the homework teachers hand to us? As employees, do we do well the work the company entrusts us? As a member of a family who should help out with the housework, do we do it carelessly? As a Christian, do we take seriously our daily Bible reading and prayer time? As someone serving in church, do we prepare ourselves well to serve? God has given us time, money, and abilities. Do we use them well?
The Bible has provided us a very good principle to train ourselves to become faithful people: start with small things. The examples mentioned above are actually the basic responsibilities in the daily life. They are the starting point of our training to become faithful people. As we train, remember that God is very particular about our faithfulness. That also decides the level of our abundant life. When we are faithful in small things, God will entrust us even greater things. Let us mutually encourage one another in the Lord!