“For who despises the day of small things? These seven eyes of the Lord, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the ceremonial stone in Zerubbabel’s hand.” —Zechariah 4:10
As we enter into ministry we can barely contain ourselves; we are called by God to do His work. We are so excited to see what He is going to do in us and through us. We know that we have to start somewhere small, but our minds are sometimes full of vain imaginations of being the next Beth Moore or Billy Graham, leading millions to the Lord, while want-to-be ministers become envious of our influence and our hair cuts. Of course, it makes sense in our own puny brains, if we are obedient to God, we will get the desires of our hearts.
After a couple years, we continue to anticipate our big break. Believing it is just around the corner, but it’s not. We are still the youth ministry associate, the unpaid intern, the volunteer who shows up and does their best. We pour ourselves into our ministries and the students we are mentoring. It doesn’t feel like we are getting anywhere with our students: kids drop out; new senior pastors come and go and don’t promote us. We feel stuck.
It can be so discouraging when you know that God has a plan for your life, a plan to help you and not to harm you. You know He gives you hope and a future; however, it seems like nothing is coming from your efforts and your faithfulness. You are doing the hard work. Praying. Studying. Showing up.
Sometimes we forget our calling and get stuck comparing ourselves to others and question our own efforts. Jesus does not call us to be famous or to be commended. We are not necessarily called to be well liked. Our calling is to go and make disciples of all nations. Period. Everything we do feeds back into that command from Christ.
If we are to be like Him, that means we continue to do the work that He prepared in advance for us to do. Our little corner of the world might be our small group of five 6th grade girls. These girls might be the disciples that change the world for Christ. Jesus left the 99 to find the one, because the one was important to Him. “Let us not get tired of doing good, we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up” (Gal. 6:9). If we impact just one student, one person, then we are doing a great work. Don’t give up. Don’t come down. Do not despise the days of small beginnings!
All scriptures referenced are in CSB (Zech. 4:10; Gal. 6:9; Eph. 2:10; Neh. 6:3, Matt. 28:19, Jer. 29:11, Zech. 4:10).
Abby Underwood
As a self-described introvert, Abby Underwood has struggled with social anxieties her whole life. Once she fully realized her value in Christ, she overcame the challenges of loneliness and stress that had dominated her relationships. With her unique perspective of life and being pastored by some of the leading pastors in small group development and church planting, Abby determined to use her life experience to make a difference. Her new found joy and freedom fueled Abby’s passion to help girls find their identity in Christ. To encourage high school and college aged girls to step out of their self-limiting boxes and become world changers, she created the service group, Girls Leading and Simply Serving (GLASS). Abby works as a member of the social media team and student ministry at Life.Church Hendersonville. Connect with Abby: Instagram // Website