2021-07-26
Zechariah 4:10 MSG
Imagine the temple lying in ruins, and having to be rebuilt from the ground up. That’s what things were like when Zechariah shared his vision with the people of Israel. Some thought it couldn’t be done, and others thought that their particular contribution would make no difference. So Zechariah challenged them in these words: ‘Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They’ll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone in place!’
Sometimes we can feel like there are too many changes we need to make to our lifestyle, our relationships and our faith. It’s at that point we need to choose to rebuild. And that can feel overwhelming. Maybe we don’t know where to start, or we can’t see how such a huge task is even possible. But making changes to our lives is a process. Rebuilding takes time and patience. It’s a step-by-step thing. Even the smallest change we make in our lives is important. We may feel like we’re not advancing quickly enough, that we’re failing because we’re taking such small steps.
But God doesn’t see it like that. He takes us on a journey, and He’s gentle with us. He helps us change and rebuild things at a pace He knows we can handle. The Bible tells us that ‘he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion’ (Philippians 1:6 NIV). God doesn’t start working with us and in us, only to leave us halfway through the process; He doesn’t give up on us because we’re taking too long to change. So when we find ourselves in a place where we need to begin to rebuild, let’s remember Zechariah’s words and avoid despising the ‘day of small beginnings.’
Deut 1-2; Luke 9:37-45; Ps 42:6-11; Prov 16:17-19
Job 8:7 NKJV
The Lazy B ranch sits on two hundred and sixty square miles. Most of it is scrub brush, and it’s been in the Day family since 1881. When Harry and Ada Mae Day had their first child, a baby daughter, they traveled two hundred miles to a hospital for the delivery and brought her home to a difficult life. The four-room adobe house had no running water or electricity, and there was no school within driving distance.
You would think with such limited resources, the little girl’s future might be limited. But Harry and Ada Mae were determined their children would have the best education possible. They subscribed to metropolitan newspapers and magazines, and read to their child hour after hour. When her daughter was four years old, Ada Mae began her on the Calvert method of homeschooling and later saw that she went to the best boarding schools possible. One summer they took their children on a car trip to visit all the state capitals in America west of the Mississippi River.
When young Sandra was ready for college, she went to Stanford University, then on to law school, and eventually she became the first woman justice to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States of America. So the word for you today is – invest in your children. And be willing to start small, otherwise you won’t start at all. Instead of dwelling on what you don’t have, use what God’s given you and He will bless it. Stand on this Scripture for your children: “Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly.”
Soul food: Deut 1-2; Luke 9:37-45; Ps 42:6-11; Prov 16:17-19
Job 8:7 NLV
Die Lazy B beesplaas beslaan tweehonderd en sestig vierkante myl, waarvan die meeste uit ruigtes bestaan. Die plaas is al sedert 1881 in die Day familie se besit. Toe Harry en Ada Mae Day hulle eerste kind, ‘n babadogter, gehad het, moes hulle tweehonderd myl na die naaste hospitaal vir die bevalling reis en het hulle haar daarna huis toe, na ‘n moeilike lewe, gebring. Die huis het uit vier kamers bestaan en het geen lopende water of elektrisiteit gehad nie en daar was geen skool binne ry afstand nie.
Jy sal dink dat met sulke beperkte hulpbronne, die dogtertjie se toekoms beperk sou wees. Harry en Ada Mae was egter vasbeslote dat hul kinders die beste opvoeding moontlik sou kry. Hulle het op koerante en tydskrifte ingeteken en ure lank vir hul kind gelees. Toe hulle dogter vier jaar oud was, het Ada Mae begin om haar tuisonderrig te gee en later het sy na die beste moontlike skole gegaan, waar sy in die koshuis gebly het.
Een somer het hulle hulle kinders in die kar gebondel en al die hoofstede in Amerika, wes van die Mississippirivier, besoek. Na skool, is die jong Sandra Sanford Universiteit toe, daarna regskool toe en het uiteindelike die eerste vroulike regter geword wat op die Hooggeregshof van die Verenigde State van Amerika se regsbank gesit het.
Die woord vir jou vandag is dus – belê in jou kinders. Wees gewillig om klein te begin, andersins sal jy glad nie begin nie. In plaas daarvan om op dit wat jy nie het nie te fokus, begin om dit wat God jou gegee het te gebruik en Hy sal dit seën. Staan op hierdie Skrifgedeelte vir jou kinders: ‘En al het jy met min begin, sal jy met baie eindig.’
Sielskos: Deut 1-2; Luk 9:37-45; Ps 42:6-11; Spr 16:17-19
2021-07-25
1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV
We pride ourselves on our ability to judge people and situations based on appearance – and lots of time we’re wrong. Goliath issued the same challenge to Israel for forty days: “Send me your best fighting man, and I’ll kill him. I’m the champion. I’m the greatest.” That kind of fear-based thinking applies to every giant you encounter in life.
Chuck Swindoll writes: “Fear and worry…don’t come just once; they come morning and evening, day after day, relentlessly trying to intimidate. They come in the form of a person, a pressure…a worry…fear that hammers on your heart…day in and day out, yelling across the ravine in your own personal valley. Few things are more persistent and intimidating than our fears and worries…especially when we face them in our own strength.”
When picking Israel’s next king, God told the prophet Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or…physical stature….For the Lord does not see as man sees;…man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (v. 7 NKJV). As human beings, we look at what’s on the outside and form opinions based on what we see. Goliath was a giant with a booming voice and lots of bravado – three traits designed to instill fear into the bravest heart. But God was neither impressed nor intimidated by him. And what’s more, He gave David the ability to see Goliath through His eyes.
Fears are like babies; the more you nurse them, the bigger they grow. Once you start seeing the giants in your life from God’s perspective, they lose their power to immobilize and intimidate you. So refuse to be fearful.
Soul food: 1 Sam 5:1-6:16; Rev 11:15-19
1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV
When Israel was choosing their next king, God said to the prophet Samuel, ‘Do not look at his appearance or…physical stature….For the LORD does not see as man sees;…man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’ (v. 7 NKJV). We often tend to judge people and situations based on appearance – we look at what’s on the outside and form opinions based on what we see – and lots of time we’re wrong. For 40 days, Goliath issued the same challenge to Israel: ‘Send me your best fighting man, and I’ll kill him. I’m the champion. I’m the greatest.’
Pastor Chuck Swindoll wrote: ‘Fear and worry…don’t come just once; they come morning and evening, day after day, relentlessly trying to intimidate. They come in the form of a person, a pressure…a worry…fear that hammers on your heart…day in and day out, yelling across the ravine in your own personal valley. Few things are more persistent and intimidating than our fears and worries…especially when we face them in our own strength.’
Goliath was a giant with a booming voice and lots of bravado – three traits designed to intimidate and instil fear into even the bravest heart. But God wasn’t impressed or intimidated by him. He saw who Goliath really was, and He gave David the ability to see Goliath through His eyes. From God’s perspective, Goliath was easy to defeat, and because David didn’t battle the giant in his own strength, but in God’s, he was able to defeat him.
That kind of thinking applies to every giant we encounter in life. Once we start seeing the giants in our lives from God’s perspective, they lose their power to immobilise and intimidate us. Let’s turn to God and draw on His strength whenever we’re feeling fearful.
1 Sam 5:1-6:16; Rev 11:15-19
