Click here to read Zechariah 4 on BibleGateway.com
Admit it, it’s the little things that drive you crazy. When you spot a parking space in the good row, only to see some punk in his Hummer take your spot, plus the 2 on either side. Or when you open a bag of jelly beans, only to find that the majority are not the sweet pink ambrosia but rather the Black Death? If I wanted licorice, I would have paid for licorice, not for the sweet sugary deliciousness of Green and Pink even though sugar is not good for our body and that’s why the use of supplements as gluco type 2 which is great for this. It’s those little things that feel like an itchy tag on your undergarment, and you just feel like if you don’t scream your noggin will pop like a soup can in the microwave.
Of course, as Christians, we would never allow ourselves to be so petty. We only focus on the Great and Majestic? Only the Big Things can get us down. Assuming that it’s not the jelly bean puke drops, have you ever wondered what is the number one struggle Christians face? Why do some walk away from the faith? Why do some never go deeper than that superficial Sunday-morning-Jesus lifestyle? Why do so many pastors leave the ministry? Why do so many Christians find themselves looking at their walk with Christ as an obligation, instead of celebration? Is it because they lose their faith from some crisis in their life? Unanswered prayer?
In truth, the biggest problem we face is the same that faced Moses, Abraham, even John the Baptist.
Discouragement.
SELDOM IS HEARD
Sometimes it just seems all the effort is pointless. Where is the excitement and challenge of that first year with the Lord? Where are the hundreds and thousands of souls that we were going to bring into the kingdom? We planted the church, and no one came. We preached, and no one came forward.
It’s doing the little things that drives us away from the Lord. We spend hours in prayer, and go away from the altar feeling no different than the day before. We memorize chapter upon chapter, and feel no closer to the Author.
And every so often, the thought crosses our mind: what if it all means nothing?
If you’ve ever felt that way (and be assured, if you haven’t yet, you will. Sorry.), then today’s reading is for you. Reading the book of Zechariah is a little like reading Revelation with all the clear parts removed. It’s one of the most obscure books in the whole Bible. Yet we still find surprises like our gem for the day: “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice…”
FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW
Leaving aside for a moment the idea of God having seven eyes (there’s that good ole apocalyptic literature for you), this concept is so easy to say and so hard to accept. God sees the small things. In fact, for God, it may just be that the small things are the big things. Those hours you spend on your knees? That’s what you were Created for. Preaching that sermon to the only five people that showed up? That may be the sermon that God designed you to preach from before the foundations of the world. That failed ministry? That may have set down roots that you will never see. Only God knows.
And notice the phrasing? “Who dares?” Who are we to judge what God is doing? Who are we to even dare? God alone determines what is worth doing. And He’s shown through His every action that what matters most is being with us. The Creator, Ruler, Master, and King over all that Is, Was, and Ever Will Be has put us at the center of his eye.
I guess it’s the little things that matter after all.