Zechariah 4:10 “For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel." This episode is about how everything starts small and that we don't need to be frustrated from our small beginnings. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Small Beginnings
Zechariah 4:10 “For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.
I liked this verse because I think it is applicable to all of us. I can’t think of anything that started off really big. Everything starts off small and then can grow into something bigger. This verse is referring to the building of the second temple. Zerubbabel laid the foundation for the second temple first. He didn’t just decide to rebuild the temple and the it was rebuilt. First he had to lay the foundation and then he had to build it brick by brick. At first, when you are building a house, it doesn’t look like much. Even once the foundation is poured, it still does not look like a house. Once you start to add the walls you get a sense of how big it is going to be and what it will look like. However, this takes time.
This verse is saying is that even though some people may despise the small beginnings, they will rejoice when they see the completed project. When the verse says, “shall see the plummet in the had of Zerubbabael,” it is talking about an instrument used by masons and carpenters, to draw perpendicular lines with, in order to judge whether the building is upright. In other words they are saying that they shall rejoice once they see the building complete, once it is finished being built. They may not think it looks like much in the beginning and they may complain with how long it is going to take to complete it, but they will rejoice once they see it finished.
I think it is so important for us to remember that everything starts off small. Think about when Jesus came into His ministry. He did not instantly have a million followers. He started off small, He gathered his disciples slowly, a few at a time. At least that is how it happened in the TV series about Jesus’ life, called the Chosen. I am sure I have mentioned this series before, but in case this is the first you are hearing about it, I highly recommend it. It is a 7 season series about Jesus’ 3 years in ministry. In this series you get to see the characters of the Bible act out the scenes on your TV, computer, phone, or wherever you are watching it. What I love most about it as we get to see the emotions of Jesus and all the various people in His life. If you haven’t checked it out, I think you should. I am sure you will be glad you did.
Back to my point, which is that even Jesus’s ministry started out small. He didn’t have as many people listening to his first talks as he did his later talks. Jesus was ok with his ministry not growing so quickly. He often told the people that he cured to not tell anyone. He was happy to help people without getting the recognition for it. However, the more Jesus helped people and spoke to the crowds the more the Word of God got out there and the more people that came to find Jesus. He started to have more and more people come to listen to Him speak and to witness miracles. Just doing a quick internet search I found that there are currently 2.3 billion Christians in the world. I would say Jesus’ ministry has grown significantly from the time when He first walked the earth.
The same is true with whatever you are trying to do. Maybe you are part of a prayer group and you are concerned because there are not that many people attending. That is ok, everything starts small. If we are faithful and we keep showing up, God will make our efforts fruitful. The people that need your group will find your group, you can be sure of that. Maybe you are writing a book and not sure if anyone will ever read it. That’s ok, think of how you will rejoice when it is done and it is successful. Keep writing, even when you feel discouraged, keep pushing forward and you will have success. Just don’t give up!
It can be really frustrating at first because we are so excited about the thing we are doing. We feel like it is a good idea and can't wait to share our mission with everyone. Then we realize that not everyone is as excited about it as we are. We may even have people that try to talk us out of it for some reason or another. Usually if someone is trying to talk you out of your dream it is because either they don’t understand what you are trying to do, or they have some fear that they are basing their decision on. Sometimes their fear is something that you should consider and sometimes it is a fear based on something they are going through. For instance, you may have a dream that you want to travel to other countries on various mission trips. Someone you know and love may try to talk you out of that dream because they are afraid for your safety. This is something you can stop and consider. If you are not afraid for your safety, then you don’t have to let their fear stop you.
Even if we get all the love and support we want for our dreams, it can still be frustrating if they are not happening as quickly as you want them too. You may want to help feed the hungry. You set up a soup kitchen and yet there aren’t too many people attending. This is normal. Everything starts small. You have to get the word out there. You have to give it time for people to find you and to be able to trust you. Maybe people are afraid to try something new. We don’t know why more people aren’t coming, but if we keep showing up, then others will come eventually. If you are faithful, God will be faithful too!
You may be listening to this and thinking that you don’t have any big dreams to go on a mission trip, or start a soup kitchen, so this doesn’t really apply to you. I assure you it does. EVERYTHING that we do starts off small. Even in our everyday life. For instance, take your prayer life. Often times we can get frustrated because we are not further along on our faith journey. Maybe you have been on this faith journey for a long time and you get that it starts off small but that you should definitely be closer to God at this point in your life. If this is you, you are not alone. Many of us feel this way. The thing to remember is that we have begun our journey, it may be a small beginning but we are on that journey. God is not wanting us to be perfect, He is just wanting us to strive to be closer to Him. If we are striving for that then we are making God happy.
There are so many places in our lives that this can apply. You may be wanting to have a close relationship with someone and yet it is going slower than you like. That’s ok, keep showing up. You may be wanting to read the Bible daily and yet you still forget to fit it in more days than you remember. That’s ok, keep trying. You may be wanting your dream to come true faster than it is. That’s ok, keep building it. In Matthew 25:23 it says, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’” I imagine this is what the Lord is saying to us. If you are frustrated over your small beginnings remember these two verses. I don’t believe that the Lord is judging us because we should be further along. I believe that He is looking at our efforts, no matter how small they are and He is saying, “Well done my good and faithful servant. Because you have been faithful with little and so I will give you more.”
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help us to be patient with our small beginnings. Help us to keep showing up even when we don’t see it growing at the rate we think it should. We ask that you help our efforts be fruitful and to grow as you wish them too. Lord, help us to grow in our prayer lives and to become closer to you. We love you Lord and we thank you for all you do for us. You are amazing and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Have a blessed day!