God can do a whole lot with a little. Just think of the great oak. It’s a massive tree that provides plenty of shade under its branches, yet its vitality is held within a system of small roots hidden underground. Remove the roots and the tree comes tumbling down. We can think of our faith as that root system, our belief in Jesus sustains us through life’s challenges. But there are enemies, like shame, doubt, and fear, that can sap the life out of our faith. Another sneaky destroyer of faith, familiarity, comes breeding contempt for all that we have been given by God. It seeks to point us to what we are missing instead of to what we have. If we are not careful, that which makes us familiar can distract us and cut down the very faith that has helped us grow so strong. The people of Jesus’ hometown, all too familiar with his beginnings, scoffed at his miracles and didn’t recognize that he was only beginning. Jesus had the whole of humanity to save, and the lack of honor he received wouldn’t be the thing to stop him. To combat the parasitic effects of familiarity we must recognize that in our faith walk with God, he reveals a new, wondrous bit of himself little by little.

There’s still more to discover about God, you haven’t gotten to the best part yet.

1. Familiarity breeds contempt

To escape the trap of familiarity, we are called to remove the splinters and logs of our lives, those things that easily prevent us from seeing our faults and serve as hindrances. But on the other side of that door, there is a Carpenter willing to restore us.

2. A prophet without honor

The hometown prophet was in front of them and they were blinded to it. Instead of seeing a savior, the people who knew Jesus best saw an insignificant carpenter. They didn’t get their breakthrough because they couldn’t see through the fog of familiarity. Instead of honor, they chose offense, the bait of Satan.

The size of our faith pales in comparison to the size of our God, but familiarity trivializes the big works of God. Therefore, we must not become complacent in our faith journey but honor the one who can change our mess into a miracle. Honoring God and those he has placed around us is our step forward. When we reflect on all that he has done and look to the future, we break the cycle of familiarity. Then with each day dawning we will have the opportunity to experience his new mercies.