Friday, December 19th

Read Zechariah 4:6-10- 6 So he (angel) said to me (Zechariah), “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. 7 “What are you, 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!’” 8 Then the word of the Lord came to me (Zechariah): 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. 10 “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone (plumb line) in the hand of Zerubbabel?”

Last observation of this passage “who dares despise the day of small things” I just love that. Rebuilding of the Temple wasn’t small, but the hard work, brick by brick was the small things that needed to be done. And there were people that were murmuring, discouraging, complaining about the work to be done. And the angel says, “don’t despise the day of small things”. Let us not be discouraged by doing the small things over and over and over again in the power of the Spirit. Because it is worth rebuilding on the plumb line, the guiding line of God’s Spirit.

Friends, we want God to do the big thing in our life, but we don’t want him to start in small ways. What does it look like for you to declare a day of small things? Where you pay attention to the small things in your life, small victories, to go small before you go big. To ask the question, “God, what is the small thing you are doing in my life right now?” “God, where in my life am I living in my power and not your power?” “God, where have I wandered off the course, off the plumb line of your foundation, and you are bringing me back to your foundation?”

Every great book begins with a word, every great painting begins with a stroke, every great movie begins with an image, every great thing begins with a small thing.

“Jesus is the humble King, born in an unsanitary stable in Bethlehem, far from the centers of power and prestige. The angelic announcements given to the obscure shepherds and foreigners, are a prelude to God’s invitational, upside down Kingdom. Bethlehem,
Nazareth, the stable, the unwed teen – all of it is shocking and lowly, the marks of a different kind of King and a different kind of kingdom.” John Mark Comer