joy in the journey

Despise not the day of small things!

For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. Zechariah 4:10 (ESV)

Great things all share one thing in common. They once were all small. Great countries, cities, companies, families, inventions and accomplishments, yes even the people behind them, all began as small things. In their smallness they were once vulnerable and dependent upon favorable conditions to sustain them. They exist today because someone envisioned a preferred future for them beyond their smallness. Someone in fact actually took such delight in their smallness that they were willing not only to patiently endure their smallness, but to invest their very lives in nurturing that smallness to grow toward greatness. That is precisely what God has done for us.

Although smallness takes many forms, there is always a redemptive quality about it when viewed as a beginning. It can be a small bank account, a small talent, a small job, a small home, a small circle of friends or even a small heart of love and compassion.

Smallness at its irreducible minimum is merely a seed thought or idea. And as with any good seed that envisions its beholder with the possibility of things to come, it engenders hope.

God loves smallness. So should we. Smallness is not something to be despised or merely to be endured. It is something in which we are meant to genuinely rejoice.

It might be said that smallness is next to Godliness. Mother Theresa underscored this truth when she said “We can do no great things, only small things with great love. . . Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” The truth is God’s plan for great things always begins with small things – an act of love, a seed-thought promise, a baby in the bulrushes or a man with a vision holding a plumb line.

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Finding joy in the journey

This week I am crossing one off the bucket list. As you read this, I am incommunicado on a sailboat in Northern Lake Superior – somewhere between Thunder Bay, Ontario and Isle Royale. Sailing is one of the things that renews me. One of the things I love about sailing is that it slows everything down. Think about the quality of unhurried interaction afforded Jesus and His disciples through their times together under sail on the Sea of Galilee.

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