“So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
10 For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
– Zechariah 4:6-10 NKJV
I was reading Zechariah the other day, and I came across a couple of verses that stood out to me.
“ ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.” With the best intentions in mind, we often do things out of our own strength, as it is quite natural for us to rely on our giftings and intellect. However, what the Lord says here is that His Spirit is what makes things possible.
“For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
I’ve been pretty busy these last few weeks, and I was losing my quiet time with the Lord. One way I’m trying to be intentional with my time with God is making little adjustments to my messed up bedtime, such sleeping half an hour to an hour earlier, for example. Yes, it is a little thing, but it resulted in being able to get up earlier and spend time with the Lord, which is a pretty valuable thing.
According to GotQuestions.org, Zerubabel was one of the people in charge of rebuilding the Lord’s temple. There was a lot of pushback from the surrounding inhabitants of the land, and the people of Israel were disappointed because the temple was smaller than Solomon’s original design. However, Zerubabel’s temple lasted longer than Solomon’s temple and Jesus actually visited that time.
My main takeaway from reading this passage is to appreciate the small things and wins. For it is not by our might, power, and accomplishments that we have success and favor, but through the Lord and His Spirit. We might value and appreciate things by our own strength, but a small thing done through the Lord’s spirit and guidance is a big thing in the Lord’s eyes.