This is May’s ‘thought for the month’.
You can read April’s ‘thought for the month’ here, March’s here, February’s here, and January’s here, with the latter including an explanation about why I’m interspersing these thoughts, with my stories, on the blog this year.
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A few weeks ago, I signed a publishing contract for my first book.
In the coming weeks, I will be letting you know more about it, and how to sign up to a new mailing list that I’m creating, so you can be amongst the first to receive updates and put in pre-orders.
For now, let me unpack the thought that came to me, as I put pen to paper, and committed my manuscript to the care of the publishing company …
Put simply, it made me reflect on how far my book has come, since it started as the seed of an idea, back in 2014.
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How many things start like this?
A book starts with a pen and paper, or a laptop, and a single word on a page. A huge oak tree starts as a tiny acorn planted in fertile soil. A business starts when a bank agrees to provide seed funding to back an entrepreneurial idea. A landslide starts when small stones begin to move. A global pandemic starts with a seemingly insignificant virus, which quickly spreads around the world.
When I read the Bible, I am reminded that it is God’s speciality to start with small things.
When David faced Goliath, all he had was a slingshot and five smooth stones. Yet God used these to slay a giant. (1 Samuel 17.)
When Moses faced the Red Sea, all he had was his wooden staff, a stick he had picked up from the ground. Yet God used it to part the waters, enough for the entire Israelite nation to walk through the waters on dry ground. (Exodus 14.)
When the disciples were faced with a hungry crowd, all they had was a young boy’s packed lunch. Yet God took those five loaves and two fishes, and used them to feed 5,000 hungry people, with 12 basketfuls of food left over. (John 6:1-14.)
In the Bible, we are told in Zechariah 4:10: “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.”
This verse is referring to Zerubbabel, an important leader from the tribe of Judah, and a descendant of King David. He was responsible for laying the capstone, the foundation stone, upon which the Jewish temple, in Jerusalem, was to be rebuilt.
Without the capstone, the temple wouldn’t have been rebuilt. But it had to start somewhere.
When something seems small and insignificant – a slingshot and five smooth stones, a staff, or five loaves and two fishes – it would be easy to despise it.
However, a slingshot and five smooth stones can be used by God to slay a terrifying giant. A plain wooden stick, picked up from the ground, can be used by God to overcome a seemingly enormous insurmountable barrier. And a simple packed lunch can be used by God to meet the immediate needs of a huge crowd of people.
Everything has to start somewhere.
God doesn’t want us to look at what we have in our hands, and to think we can’t do anything great with it. He wants us to look at what we have in our hands, and to entrust it to Him.
He wants us to know whose hands we are in, and to have faith for what He can do with what we have in our hands.
If you will give God what He has given you, no matter how small it seems, He will use it to slay giants, overcome barriers, and meet the needs of the people He has placed around us.
Do not despise the small beginnings. For God rejoices to see the work begin.
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As I think about my book, and how far it’s come in the seven years since its inception, I can see how God took and used what I had in my hands.
How about you? Are you facing a terrifying giant? Are you standing face-to-face with a seemingly enormous insurmountable barrier? Are you feeling overwhelmed by the needs of the people around you?
If this is you, then I want to ask you: What do you have in your hands? What small beginnings can you see being seeded in your life? Will you let God take and use them, so that He gets the glory?
As you do this, remember: “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin,” Zechariah 4:10.
And, as ever, if you have any answers to these questions, or any reflections, please feel free to share these in the comments below.
Photo by Francesco Gallarotti on Unsplash
