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Don't Despise the Day of Small Things |
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By Dr. Ralph Wilson © 2003
I remember the excitement in my boyhood neighborhood
when somebody began to build a large home on a vacant lot
at the end of our street. A concrete truck rolled up to
pour foundations, and for several days we could hear the
sound of vigorous pounding as carpenters framed the walls.
Then everybody left. I never knew why. Not another nail
was pounded. The bare frame stood spring and summer and
Christmas season, too — as long as I lived there — a house
of sticks and little more.
Some of God's projects stall, too. Five centuries before
Jesus was born, the Israelites returned from exile to
find Jerusalem in ruins and their beloved temple destroyed.
With great enthusiasm they set about rebuilding it. However,
Zerubbabel the governor, got little farther than laying
the foundation before opposition set in. Neighbors fought
the project tooth and nail, finally succeeding in getting
a restraining order to halt construction (Ezra 4). Enemies
mocked. Supporters became discouraged. For years the site
stood silent.
Failure. Zerubbabel felt like a failure. Oh, there were
plenty of other things to do. Zerubbabel set to work building
his own wood-paneled home. But his grand dream had fizzled.
He was probably like the rest of us when failure looms.
What little self-confidence we have ebbs away. We seal
ourselves from more pain by denial. We meet further effort
with skepticism. We protect ourselves from getting our
hopes too high again. We look at the ground rather than
the sky, at the past rather than the future.
And then one day a man of God, Zechariah, began to speak
words that pierced Zerubbabel to the heart and filled
him with fresh hope: "This is the word of the Lord
to Zerubbabel," came the message. "Not by might
nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty." Zerubbabel
could feel his heart pounding as the message continued. "What
are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will
become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone
to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!' The hands of
Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple, his
hands will also complete it" (Zechariah 4:6-7).
The project had seemed like an immovable mountain, Zerubbabel
thought. But now with God at work he knew he could finish
the temple.
The final words of the prophecy jolted him. "Do
not despise the day of small things. Men will rejoice
when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel" (vs. 10).
He had despised that early start. How weak, how insignificant,
how naive he had been. Yet, in spite of all that, God
had been in those beginnings.
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How often our efforts for God are attacked by
the enemy. We can get so discouraged we don't even want
to try again. But God delights in taking the insignificant
and making something out of it. Down through history
we can see the pattern:
- Moses' rod that delivered a nation from Egypt (Exodus
4:1-9),
- The jawbone of an ass that in Samson's hand killed
a thousand Philistines (Judges 15:14-16),
- Five smooth stones that felled the giant Goliath (1
Samuel 17),
- The handful of meal and a jar of oil that sustained
a widow through years of famine (2 Kings 4:1-7),
- A grubby stable that became the nativity place of the
Christ Child himself on Christmas morning (Luke 2),
- Five barley loaves and a couple fish that fed a multitude
(Matthew 14:13-21), and
- The mustard seed Jesus said would become a great tree
for birds to find shelter (Matthew 13:31-32).
What little thing, what dream, what false start, have
you despised? Your small church, your tiny Bible study,
your hopes of ministry for Christ?
Do you despise your failures? Don't.
Surrender them to the God who delights in taking human
weakness and showing His strength. Take another look
at your discarded dreams, this time through God's eyes:
"Not by might, not by power, but my Spirit says
the Lord Almighty" (Zechariah 4:6). Oh, by the
way. When I went back to my old neighborhood, someone
had finished that house at the end of the street. It's
beautiful.
The story of Zerubbabel building the temple is found
in Zechariah 4:6-10 and Ezra 2 - 6. The quoted text
is based on the New International Version.
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| Copyright © 1993 by Ralph F. Wilson pastor@joyfulheart.com.
All rights reserved. Joyful Heart Renewal Ministries
conducts Internet
Bible studies and maintains collections
of Christmas
articles and stories as well as Easter
articles and stories.
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Scripture
taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of
International Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the offering
of goods or services requires the prior written consent of International
Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible,
New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission
of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All rights
reserved.
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PSALM 16:7-9
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"I
will praise the LORD , who counsels me; even at night
my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always
before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will
not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my
tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure."
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(NIV)
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