By Jobin Thomas Benoy
ISAIAH 43:16-19
16 Thus says the lord, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters
17 who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (they shall lie down together they shall not rise they are extinguished they are quenched like a wick)
18 "Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old
19 Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert
In the above verses, God is reminding Israel that what He has done for them is awesome, they have sacked the Egyptian army in Red Sea never to rise up again and God has given a breakthrough in order to bring them to enter into the promise land. But yes, it’s true, at the moment Israelites are in captivity and something difficult is happening. But God wants them to know that he wants to do something new, something awesome and beautiful. God wants them to perceive it and see it.
Verse 18 emphasize on forgetting the former things and not to dwell in the past.
We might feel like we are going through a desert, barrenness but let us declare that something new and powerful is bursting forth.
But there are few things that we need to know when God does something new in our lives.
DONT DESPISE HUMBLE BEGININGS (Zechariah 4:8-10)
We all very well know that Zerubbabel was the civic leader of Jerusalem and had the responsibility to finish the work of rebuilding the temple. The work had stalled, and Zerubbabel needed encouragement to carry on the work.
He was a man who came with captives to rebuild Jerusalem to put the foundation stone for the temple of the lord. They were stopped. So, Haggai, Zechariah comes tells people you are taking care of yourselves but not about the temple of the Lord
Lot of opposition was to be faced. When foundation stone was laid. This is what the lord spoke through,
8 moreover the word of the lord came to me saying:
9 "the hands of the Zerubabel 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 Zerubabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth."
When the work is done by God’s Spirit there are not only resources to begin the work, but also to finish the work. God is a finisher
It was a long “day” for Zerubbabel, because the work of the temple laid in ruins for almost 20 years. He probably would have asked God, “What do you mean by ‘day of small things?’ I’ve lived with 20 years of small things.” Even so, God tells Zerubbabel to not despise the time of small things, and to consider it is all as just a day.
Those days are not a mistake nor are they punishment; they are days of priceless shaping and preparation. They are not days to despise.
Satan does not despise the day of small things. Satan fears the day of small things in our life because he sees what great things God does in them and brings out of them.
If God is giving a breakthrough at our workplace or God has blessed us with something, it might not be at the level of our expectation, it might be somewhere below it . But don't worry because beginning is very small but do not despise it.
When God starts to do powerful things in our lives it may not be significantly large. It might just be a birth of something new but let’s not despise or cry about it. We may have expected something big but what had happened was something small, just know one thing that God is wanting us to thank Him for that, He is faithful to actually take that small thing and create a big impact in and through our lives.
DO NOT FEAR, GOD IS WITH YOU
When God is giving us a promise or a blessing or a breakthrough, we tend to fear whether it will come to fulfillment but be still for God has promised to be with us.
In Deuteronomy 31:7-8, God spoke to Joshua and spoke through Moses
7 Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of Israel, "Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with people to the land which the lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and thou shall cause them to inherit it.
And the Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed."
Often our fear is crippling us of allowing God to do what He wants to do. If we quit fear and hold onto Him, He will bring great things to past.
If we see the life of Paul, he is little frightened, he is sitting in city of Corinth and God says to Paul I am with you.
In Acts 18:9-10 we read,
God is with you
God raises people for you
BE EMPOWERED WITH HIS SPIRIT
Anointing of the Holy Spirit means God is empowering us or is giving us the capacity to do what God wants to do.
God said I am going but not leaving you as orphans I will be with you there is a spirit of God in me that helped me I am giving you the same spirit wait in Jerusalem while you are endowed with power from above
It is the anointing of God that we need in order to complete the task ahead of us.
In Zechariah 4:6 we read,
6 This is the word of the lord to Zerubabel not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the lord of hosts
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”
MOVE IN FAITH, SPEAK TO YOUR MOUNTAINS
MATHEW 21:21-22
21 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. 22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
In this world, there will be various mounts that we will have to overcome, these mountains are not to destroy us but to shape us to be better. Looking at the mountain we should not succumb to fear, instead speak with faith and the mountains shall be conquered.
The question that would be ringing in our minds is that why God involves us? and the simple answer is because He has the pleasure of sharing the work with us
EXPECT OPPOSITION BUT REMEMBER VICTORY AND COMPLETION IS OURS
Christian life is not bed of roses, there will be trials and tribulation but we just need to be assured that God is in control of the situation and He will take care of us. If troubles arise just know that He is training us for the future battles. May God bless us with these words !
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