For whoever has despised the day of small thingsshall rejoice . . . ~ Zechariah 4:10a (ESV)
READING: Matthew 13:31, 32
Church planting often starts small. Most new churches do not grow to become “megachurches.” There’s a danger in measuring God’s blessing by the scale of attendance or conversions or baptism. Is not every work of God a miracle?
Some churches have an attendance of 50,000. Does that mean that God has withheld His blessing because your new church has an attendance of 85, and that “only” 27 people were saved last year?
When Jesus healed the blind man, was that a lesser miracle than the parting of the Red Sea? Did Christ’s turning water into wine for a small wedding deserve less praise than when He fed the 5000? Was the raising of Lazarus less praiseworthy than the “many” Matthew reports (28:52, 53) who were raised when Jesus died on the cross?
Every true conversion displays the infinite power and sovereign grace of God. Measuring a miracle only by the size of the human response will create a man-centered standard, and deprive God of glory due Him.
We really don’t know what God is up to. One soul converted may lead to multitudes saved in future generations. One small church may become the mother of a cluster of daughter churches.
As Zechariah led the rebuilding of the Temple, some despised the small beginnings of the project. But God was in it. Jesus said one small mustard seed would one day become a large bird sanctuary (Matthew 13:31, 32).
Don’t despise the “small things” God is doing. Bigger numbers will always be reported somewhere. But let’s rejoice that the seed of the gospel is being planted, and that the true size of the harvest is known to God alone!
Lord, Teach me not to despise small things. May I recognize and rejoice in the miracles You are doing every day. Amen.
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