PIC No. 80:
• Song Title: “Little Is Much When God Is in It”
• Words & Music by: Kittie Suffield
• Composed: 1924
• Management Bucket #5 of 20: The Book Bucket
Welcome to Issue No. 80 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system. Note: This special issue features a stunning story about a hymn written in 1924, but still having an impact 100 years later!
“Little Is Much When God Is in It" - The rest of the story!
The first time I heard the song, “Little Is Much When God Is in It,” I was stunned by the powerful lyrics and music. But there’s much, much more to tell you about this poignant song.
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Pastor Marion McCandless, my next door neighbor, shared “the rest of the story” with me recently. Though now retired at age 91, Pastor “Mac” colorfully described the setting to me as if it were yesterday.
In 1957, while pastoring a church in Southern California, the denomination’s district superintendent asked Pastor McCandless to drive to Pasadena for a pastoral visit with an elderly couple. They had served faithfully as traveling evangelists for years and years. “Encourage and thank them,” was the assignment.
Fred and Kittie Suffield warmly welcomed Pastor McCandless into their home and seemed to appreciate his visit. Granted, the visit was just one of thousands of routine pastoral calls that Pastor Mac made during his many years of ministry. But there was nothing routine about this visit.
When it was time for Pastor McCandless to leave, he began to pray a blessing over this dedicated husband and wife. He didn’t know all the details of their ministry nor their devoted years of faithful service, but he knew that God knew.
So as Pastor McCandless prayed, he sensed the Holy Spirit’s nudge to include this verse from the gospel song, “Little Is Much When God Is in It.” He ended his prayer:
“Does the place you're called to labor
Seem so small and little known?
It is great if God is in it,
And he'll not forget his own.
Little is much when God is in it;
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown, and you can win it
If you’ll go in Jesus' name.
Amen.”
Kittie Suffield opened her eyes and Pastor McCandless remembers, “Her eyes twinkled!” She looked into his eyes and asked, “Do you like that song?”
Pastor McCandless smiled and said, “I love that song! Why do you ask?”
Kittie responded, “The Lord led me to write that song in 1924 and now you’re here today—33 years later—and you included those lyrics in your prayer. Oh, my.”
Pastor McCandless couldn’t believe what he had just heard. He thought about the goodness of God. He told me that he was so sobered—and so humbled—that the Lord would give him the privilege of being a blessing to Fred and Kittie Suffield that day.
And Pastor McCandless also told me he has never stopped telling this miracle story of “The Prayer in Pasadena!”
But there’s more to the story!
In 1956, at the General Assembly of the Church of the Nazarene in Kansas City, a song leader from Canada introduced “Little Is Much When God Is in It” to the 15,000 or so delegates at this meeting. Many pastors and church leaders were in the arena representing hundreds of small churches across North America. They came to hear from God and they came for encouragement—and then they discovered they were on Holy ground.
Pastor McCandless was there. “I was in the arena’s upper seating area. My wife, Connie, and I were just starting out in pastoral ministry. And as I looked over those thousands of humble servants—caught up in genuine heartfelt praise and worship—I knew I would never forget that day. I have never experienced anything like that then or since. I remember one guy was so enthused about praising the Lord—that he ran laps around the main floor seating area!”
God’s people sang their hearts out that day:
“Little is much when God is in it;
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown, and you can win it
If you’ll go in Jesus' name.”
Listen to “Little Is Much When God Is in It,” written by Kittie Suffield in 1924, and sung in 2012 by the Gaither Vocal Band.
Commenting on the YouTube video, sung by the Gaither Vocal Band, here’s how one person described her experience in 1956:
“I heard this song in 1956 in the General Assembly… I was about 16 and ‘God came down in glory’ on the congregation of about 15,000 people. It felt like electricity. My hands went up in praise with no effort. I wished that I had a trumpet to fill all of heaven with praises to God. It was truly a supernatural experience which I will never forget.”
Pastor McCandless remembers that when that multitude in Kansas City sang the last verse and chorus of the song, the song leader—deeply touched during that worship experience—simply whispered into the microphone, “What do I do now?”
But there’s more to the story!
Kittie Jennett was born in 1884, and as a teenager aspired to be a concert artist as a coloratura soprano or pianist. This Melody Publications blog from July 8, 2023, chronicles her early life:
Kittie “…had been invited to be the soloist for a week of special meetings in Winchester, Ontario. During the week, a winter storm brought several feet of snow, and the train that Kittie boarded to return to New York became stuck in the snowdrifts just a few miles from the station.”
The God plot thickens! “Fred Suffield was a successful young farmer whose farm was only a few hundred yards from where the train had come to a stop. Fred was awakened by a desperate pounding at the door and was told how folks were stranded on the train. He harnessed his horses to the farm sleigh, made his way through the blizzard to the tracks, and brought as many passengers as he could to his home to stay for the night."
God's plan continues! “A Miss Kittie Jennett was among them, the singer and pianist whose music he had enjoyed all week at the meetings. After the stranded passengers had returned to the train the next morning, Fred found a note that Kittie had left, thanking him for his kindness. That was the beginning of a romance that lasted a lifetime.”
Kittie and Fred married and they ministered together in evangelistic work and she used her God-given talents to write gospel songs and hymns. The words and music of “Little Is Much When God Is in It” were written in 1924 by Kittie, often credited as Mrs. Frederick W. Suffield.
But there’s more to the story!
Leslie Clay shares on her blog, Sisters in Song (July 14, 2014), another moment in the life of these faithful traveling evangelists, Fred and Kittie Suffield.
According to Clay, the Suffields attended a church in Ottawa, Canada, pastored by A.J. Shea. Clay writes, “One summer, they hosted A.J.’s son, George Beverly, for a month in Westport, Ontario, while holding evangelistic meetings. During his stay one night, George tried to sing, but his voice cracked. Kittie, the pianist, lowered the key and he sang beautifully from then on.”
The result? “She is known as the encourager and initiator of George Beverly Shea’s famous career as a singer, most notably for Billy Graham’s organization.” Listen here to George Beverly Shea sing his signature song, “I’d Rather Have Jesus.” And there’s more to his story! Listen here.
What’s the rest of your story?
What’s the rest of your story? Will it be, “Welcome home, my child; well done?” Fred Suffield (1874-1963) and Kittie Suffield (1884-1972) served the Lord with gladness. As Pastor McCandless noted, "Kittie’s eyes still twinkled with joy late in life." How will your story end?
"When the conflict here is ended,
And our race on earth is run,
He will say, if we are faithful,
'Welcome home, my child; well done.'
Little is much when God is in it;
Labor not for wealth or fame.
There's a crown, and you can win it
If you’ll go in Jesus' name."
PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reflecting on this song reminded me of several must-read books (and books with hymns) in The Book Bucket plus other buckets/core competencies.
[ ] The One Year® Book of Hymns: 365 Devotions Based on Popular Hymns, compiled and edited by Robert K. Brown and Mark R. Norton; devotions written by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen. (Read my review.)
[ ] The Messiah: An Oratorio for Four-Part Chorus of Mixed Voices, Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass Soli and Piano, by G. F. Handel. (Read my review.)
[ ] Knowing God, by J.I. Packer. (Read my review.)
[ ] Sisters In Song: Women Hymn Writers, by Leslie Clay. (Order from Amazon.)
NOTE: An edited version of this blog post also appears on the God Reports website. Click here.
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