Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” Zechariah 4:10 (NLT)
I have a fond memory of this verse. I had begin to work with the youth at my church. I was a Sunday school teacher for the senior high class, but I wanted to restart out youth group. The first few sessions no one came and I spent the night working on my Sunday school lesson, after a few months a few would show up. We were growing, but it was slow and I was getting a little frustrated. I was talking to my pastor and he said to me and said, “Do not despise humble beginnings.” He was right. That group never did get huge, but they grew together and became a strong youth ministry for a small church, but was one of God’s great blessings to me and it started so much up for me. I first used art in ministry in that group, so in a way you could say that small beginning birthed another small beginning and God used both things to change my life in a multitude of great ways.
You might say, it sounds like a nice verse, but what does it mean? In our instant gratification world, there is a tendency to look for things to grow quickly and if they don’t the effort is failure, so fold up your tent and go somewhere else. I want to encourage you not to do that. Consider the example of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I’m of the belief that a lot of modern churches would fire Jesus. After all, he started with 12, grew to 120, spoke about being the bread of life and ended up back at 12 and one of those was His betrayer. Jesus spent most of His earthly ministry time sowing into those 12 men, it seemed like a small beginning, the kind that would have made many people fret, but Jesus didn’t. He sowed into the 12, laid down His life for them, filled them with the Spirit and changed the world. Small beginnings can be frustrating, but small beginnings with Jesus can change the world.
I think of the exponential growth of the early church and it makes me scratch my head a bit. The most competent Minister in the history of the world, spent most of His earthly life investing in a “small group.” Then He died, and the man who denied him three times at his most difficult moment, ends up being entrusted with 3,000 new believers in one day, after one sermon. It doesn’t make sense until you figure out that leader, Peter, spent three years with Jesus Christ sowing into Him in an intimate small group.
Do not despise small beginnings, just trust the Lord to do what He will through you and make the most of every opportunity.
AMOKArts 