Getting Ahead of God

For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel- Zechariah 4:10

I have a tendency to get excited about things.  I've always been that way about ideas or plans.  When I learn a new skill, I start planning 10 new projects to make.  When I go on a trip, I immediately try to start learning the language.  I can spend hours on Pinterest planning things I want to cook.  I do make new things every week to the chagrin of my family...can't we just have tacos again...but for every new recipe I try I have 5 more that I sit on my "making soon" board.  

This year God has given me the challenge of getting to know myself, my limits and abilities and owning who I am right now.  With that knowledge, I'm to embrace my capacities and make choices that reflect balance for my life.  Last week my busy season came to head with multiple things every night after work and I started to question, again, if we are doing too much.  Trusting my husband's perspective that sometimes we just have a busy week I let go of it being a calendar issue.  And as God does, He used my morning bible time to show me something I hadn't considered.  

Often when I reflect on my capacity, my schedule is the first thing to get scrutinized because as most people around me experience, we are busy.  We are speeding down the highway of the Information Age.  Technology brings instant access to all we need and so instead of leveraging that time to slow down, we speed up and pile in more.  Yet our family has builds  in times of rest, intentionally prays about new commitments, and makes sure we have alone, family, and friend time included.  We are far from perfect but are living intentionally, which is all we can do; we make our choices and with wisdom refine things as we go. 

So if I'm not too busy, what else could the Lord be saying about how I'm moving? Sometimes it's not the what I’m doing but the how and why that I've got wrong.  When reading Zechariah 4 this morning, God pointed out that I have a tendency to despise the day of small things.  That is, an event in your life that seems insignificant to you because it's not as grand as what someone else is doing.  Though I may not see its importance, God gets excited about the small things He’s doing because  it kicks off His big-picture plans for my life.  We don't often celebrate these times because it seems so trivial when we compare our tasks to what He's already doing in someone else's life.  

This year God has put a U-turn in my ministry.  Though you may know me primarily as a blogger, in my local church I've always been a worship leader.  Writing has been my outlet. I'm a contemplative and love writing as a way to process my life and share my story with others.  It's also been an act of worship.  I started this blog 8 years ago as an offering of thanks to God building a house for me.  It was a reflection of how I would offer myself to be used in the spiritual house He's building through me--using His truth in my life to bring others further along their journey.  Last July, He moved me to 2 new ministries. These opportunities have shown me His desire for me to refine my writing and speaking gifts and begin to let go of the musical giftings He has used in the past. To start saying no so I could say yes to something new.  

There are so many talented speakers and authors that I am sometimes frustrated at where I am.  I desperately want to move ahead of God and the things He has for me right now. Yet to be used in big ways, I have to be faithful in the small things.  All these are empowered by one and the same Spirt, who apportions to each one individually or as He wills (1 Corinthians 13:11).  

In this passage, Zerubbabel, the leader of the returning remnant to Israel, was given the task of rebuilding the temple and God promised he would complete it.  Zerubbabel was really looking forward to the day that things would be finished and that the sum of his work would be completed.  But God says no, be excited on the day the work starts, where you get out your measuring stick (the plumb line) and start.  

God in three persons all have a distinct role in the work we are destined for.  God the Father makes plans for our lives, Jesus brings them to pass through what He has already done on our behalf and the intercession He is currently making for us, and the Spirit become the source of our power and strength to accomplish our part.  We need to slow down, tune into God's work in our life and be in step with what He is doing.  He is our how and our why. 

Am I comparing myself to others and how God is using them, or am content with what He currently has for me?  Am I celebrating the work God is beginning in my life or experiencing envy and discontentment when I'm not where I think I "should" be?  Am I moving too far ahead of God or delighting in how He is using me today? Do I look through the eyes of faith that He has great things for me or am I impatient?  

May God give us a joy in the little things because faithfulness and obedience is what He desires.  One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much (Luke 16:10)