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Don't Despise the Day of Small Things
by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
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Life of Jacob
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 frame stood winter and summer--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.
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),
- 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.
Notes: 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.
Copyright © 1985-2009 Ralph F. Wilson. <pastor
joyfulheart.com> All rights reserved. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information.
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