We've all said or heard the phrase, "You've got to start somewhere."

It's one of those things we say when we realize we have a goal that seems unreachable yet desirable enough to begin journeying towards.

I love that God understands that feeling and still believes the goal is reachable.

And I love that the New Testament refers to Christians as the Temple of God but gives us the entire Old Testament journey of God's earthly temple as a symbol of our very beings.

I've read Zechariah before, but this morning as I was reading in Zechariah 4:10, the words,

 "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin."

jumped off the page at me in a new and powerful way for some reason.

See, Zerubbabel had been given the task of rebuilding the temple.  And in this verse, he was standing with the plumb line in his hand.  I'm sure that this phase of the temple rebuilding seemed like a phase that was very, very far away from actually seeing the temple beautiful and complete.  I can almost hear one of his buddies saying, "You've got to start somewhere."

And who knows, maybe Zerubbabel was standing there thinking, "How in the world is what I'm doing really going to make a difference in the long run?" or "Will God ever pleased with my finished work..I have so far to go!"

Today, I'm just thinking that if you are anything like me you need to hear the words, "Do not despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin."

Maybe you are a new Christian and the journey ahead of you seems nearly impossible.

Maybe you have been a Christian for years and you've let God's temple inside of you crumble either physically or spiritually.

Maybe you haven't accepted Jesus as your Savior yet, so the work of building a temple inside of you has not even begun.

Whatever the case,

DO NO DESPISE SMALL BEGINNING!  THE LORD REJOICES TO SEE THE WORK BEGIN.

I love that other verses in the Bible support this same truth.

God started most projects with small people in small places.

I wish I had time this morning to list all the ones dancing through my head.

Moses, Abraham, Joseph, Ruth, Esther....

Oh, the list goes on and on.

And that's just the Old Testament.

Fishermen were turned into apostles in the New Testament.

Tax Collectors, Persecutors, and on and on.........It's as if God looks down at the earth and says, "I've got to start somewhere."

If you feel the tasks you have been assigned are small, be encouraged!

Luke 16:10 says,

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much."

And when you run into problems along the way, read II Cor. 4:1,

"Since God has so generously let us in on what He is doing, we're not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times."

Don't think God doesn't notice your work.

Hebrews 6:10 says, "God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them."

And finally, read Job 8:7,

"Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be"! (Job 8:7 NIV)

I'm praying that today you will take one small step towards your goals and towards being the Christian God longs for you to be and realize that when you take that step,

"The Lord rejoices with you!"