The Teaspoon and the Ocean: A South African Lesson in Sacred Obedience
Here in Akasia, the summer sun bakes the earth to a brittle terracotta. From my window, I watch a neighbour trying to water his vast garden with a single, leaking hose. He runs frantically from one wilting petunia to the next, a picture of frantic exhaustion. It’s a futile fight against the immense need. And I see myself in him. I see all of us in him.
How often have you stood before the ocean of problems in your life, in our nation, and felt the crushing weight of your own teaspoon? The need is too vast. The waves of crisis—load-shedding that plunges our homes into darkness, the relentless news of gender-based violence that shatters our communities, the deep poverty that leaves 23 percent of our children in severe food poverty —these are not mere puddles. They are a roaring sea. And the Lord whispers to my spirit, “Harold, you are trying to drain the ocean with a teaspoon.”
The Tyranny of the Telescope
We operate in our own strength, and it is here we falter. We look through the wrong end of the telescope. We magnify the problem and minimize our God. We see the endless water and forget the One who spoke it into existence, the One who parted the Red Sea with a mere east wind.
This is not just a feeling; it is a theological error, a philosophical misstep. We confuse our finite capacity with divine responsibility. Philosophy and theology have long danced together, with Christian thinkers using reason to explore the mysteries God has revealed . And one thing reason tells us is that a creature cannot carry the weight of the cosmos. That is the Creator’s burden. Our assignment is different. It is simpler. It is harder. It is simply to be obedient with our teaspoon.
The Theology of the Teaspoon
What is your teaspoon? For me, it is a song, a sermon, a word of encouragement to a young pastor in Soshanguve. For you, it might be a pot of food for a grieving family, a faithful presence at a thankless job, a prayer whispered in the silent, load-shedded dark. Your teaspoon is the specific, God-given capacity for this moment. It is your "sacred sip."
The world, and our own frantic hearts, scream that it is not enough. But this is where we must be confrontational, prophetic. We must sound the alarm against the error that bigger is always better, that only grand, sweeping gestures matter. This is a lie that leads to burnout and despair. It is a form of pride, a subtle way of insisting that the outcome depends on us.
The biblical pattern is different. It is the pattern of the boy with five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-14). He did not feed the five thousand. He simply offered his lunch. His obedience was the teaspoon. Jesus’s power was the miracle. Our call is not to be successful, but to be faithful. Our call is not to part the sea, but to take the first step onto the damp seabed when God commands it.
A Modern-Day Parable from the Pit Latrine
Let me tell you a story that haunts and inspires me. It’s in the news, a story of our national shame and a glimpse of God’s grace. The 2024 reports tell us that nearly 300 public schools in our beautiful country still rely solely on pit latrines . A three-year-old boy recently died after falling into one .
Now, picture a community activist, let’s call him Thabo. He reads this news. The ocean of systemic failure, government delay, and bureaucratic incompetence stretches before him. He could despair. He could rant on social media and feel the problem is too big. But instead, he picks up his teaspoon.
His teaspoon is a hammer and nails. He gathers a few men from his church. They go to the local crèche on a Saturday. They don’t drain the ocean of the national crisis. They don’t eradicate all pit latrines in South Africa. But they build a secure, proper toilet seat and a safe enclosure for the twenty children at that one crèche. It is a small act. A teaspoon. But for those twenty children, the sea has been parted. They are safe. Thabo was faithful, not frantic. He did what he could, with what he had, where he was. He trusted God to move in the hearts of others to do the same elsewhere. This is the theology of the teaspoon in action.
The Unbreakable Logic of Trust
Let us construct a simple, logical argument for this, the way the great theologians like Stephen T. Davis have shown us how philosophy can defend our faith .
1. Premise One: God is both omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing). He is the only being capable of managing the global, national, and personal oceans of need (Psalm 135:6; Proverbs 15:3).
2. Premise Two: I am a finite, limited creature, operating with limited knowledge, limited strength, and a limited sphere of influence. I am incapable of managing these oceans (Isaiah 55:8-9).
3. Premise Three: God, in His wisdom, does not command me to do what only He can do. He commands me to be faithful with what I have been given (Matthew 25:21).
4. Conclusion: Therefore, the most rational, logical, and spiritually sound course of action is to focus my energy on my specific assignment—my teaspoon—and to trust God completely with the outcome of the larger need.
A common objection arises: “But if I only use my teaspoon, won’t I become complacent? Won’t I neglect my duty to seek justice?” To this, I say a resounding no! This is not a call to inaction. It is a call to focused, sustainable, and God-dependent action. Frantic draining leads to collapse. Faithful scooping, day after day, in the power of the Spirit, leads to a lifetime of impact. It is the difference between a sprint and a marathon. We are called to run with perseverance (Hebrews 12:1).
Your Teaspoon, Your Testament
So, my brother, my sister, in the dusty streets of Akasia or the bustling hubs of Johannesburg, put down the burden you were never meant to carry. Your assignment is not to fix South Africa today. Your assignment is to be obedient with your teaspoon.
Be faithful with the one conversation. Be faithful with the one prayer. Be faithful with the one act of kindness. Be faithful in the one ministry role. Do your part, with all the excellence and love you can muster, and then, with a heart full of faith, step back and watch. Watch as Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, parts the sea. Watch as El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient God, does what only He can do.
Stop striving. Start trusting. Cease being frantic. Choose to be faithful.
Pick up your teaspoon, and watch the ocean part.
Amen.
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