Lysa Terkeust got me thinking about 'small' things. The place where things in my life seem small:where my vision is grand but the reality isn’t. Things like my influence, my opportunities, my blog, my ministry...especially my 'ministry'.
BUT GOD says, in Zechariah 4:10 “Who dares despise the day of small things...?" Now, I know the context is great: God had given Zerubbabel a task - to rebuild the temple - yet nothing is too small for God. Psalm 82:3 says :Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,where she may have her young— a place near your altar, and Jesus points out that, if even sparrows are valuable to God, we are even more so.
And so, when I feel discouraged that what I do is too small to be noticed and, apparently, not worth much, I gain much encouragement from realising that obedience in small things is SMALL: because it is not I who can achieve 'greatness' but God: So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:6
This is God's promise to Zerubbabel, charged with a great duty: it is for us, too.
PS: I had to go to work before I could publish this, so saved it quickly. A few hours later, another blog post from Marybeth Whalen popped into my inbox. She had been at a worship service where the 'I' was shown as 'i'. As if 'I' was too important. She asked:
what does a little i life look like? Sacrifice? Surrender? Slaying self? Setting apart? Seeking Him? Serving others instead of doing what i want?
Marybeth concludes: This little i thing could catch on. It should catch on, because it’s the life Jesus called us to. We don’t need to be capitalized. We need to be small, insignificant — just a jot and a tittle, the littlest marks in the alphabet. Instead of a capital letter that announces our importance. At least, that’s what i am learning these days — and trying to live out. Sacrifice, surrender and servanthood are hard. But i know that’s what God calls us to do; laying down our wants, needs and desires and straining towards His.
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As we consider ourself small in our own eyes, we come to understand that we are SPECIAL in His favor. As we seek his will, he shows us the thing next He desires of us. It may be a small thing he wants us to do, and it will be enlarged in his sight as we obey.
ReplyDeleteThat Zech. passage is one of my all time favorites. We are big because we are big in God's eyes. Thank you for sharing this gem in the faith jam, friend! So encouraging!
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