"The Day of Small Things" - Part I

"For who has despised the day of small things?" (Zech.4:10)

Interesting that the Lord posed this as a question! Why didn't He just make a command? He could have said, "Do not despise the day of small things!" But instead, He asks the question. It makes us think. "Am I someone who does this?"

The question implies certain conclusions. "Who has despised the day of small things?" No one should! Another beautiful conclusion is this: the Lord Himself does NOT. The Lord God, our Lord, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, does NOT despise the day of small things.

The question refers to a situation that took place after the children of Israel were released from their 70-year captivity in Babylon. Ezra 3 records the beginning of their attempts to rebuild the temple. Once the foundation was laid, many of them praised God with loud singing and rejoicing. They had a new beginning! But some of them mourned and wept.....the older ones who remembered the size and glory and beauty of the former temple which had been destroyed. What they saw was far less magnificent, and only a beginning.... It was a day of small things.

The Lord addresses this same situation in a message to the prophet Haggai, "Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison? But now, take courage.....declares the Lord, take courage...all you people of the land take courage...and work, for I AM WITH YOU." (Haggai 2:4,5)

I love that phrase, "take courage"! It is used multiple times in the Word of God, (three times in this verse alone!) and is also translated "Be of good cheer". Jesus Himself used the phrase often. What a reflection of the heart of God! Courage....good cheer....comfort....this is what He is able to give, and desires to give, to those who truly come to Him.

Why can we take courage and be of good cheer in the day of small things? Because God Himself promises, "I AM WITH YOU." The smallest of tasks, the most insignificant of circumstances, are elevated to a place of worship and fellowship when we know that God is with us.

So we must never despise the day of small things! Jesus Himself tells us, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much." (Luke 16:10) God is not asking us to do big things for Him, but to be faithful in every little thing. What is the next thing in front of you to do? Do it with Jesus....do it for Jesus....do it by the strength which He supplies. Who is the person right in front of you? Serve them with Jesus....serve them for Jesus....serve them by the strength which He supplies. This is when duty becomes a delight!

Think of the life of our Lord. For thirty years He did no "big thing". He didn't preach. He didn't heal. He didn't attract any special attention. Instead, He faithfully tended the carpenter shop. As the eldest son of the family, He cared for His mother, who was widowed sometime during those years. He cared for his siblings. (This was no small task! According to Matthew 13:55,56, Jesus had at least six younger siblings, probably more.) Nobody knew who He really was. He lived day after day, year after year, serving faithfully in the "day of small things."

When the day of Jesus' baptism finally came, what did God Himself declare from the heavens? "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." His ministry hadn't even begun. But God His Father was well-pleased with Him.

If the very Son of God was "well-pleasing" to His Father in this condition....living a day-to-day life, not concerned with big things, just being faithful in every small thing in front of Him, then so can we. It's a heart-stance we can choose. And He is pleased!