Embracing Humble Beginnings
Zechariah 4:10a: "For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice..."
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning! There was a day that I despised my humble beginnings, but looking back, it was those isolated, lonely, seemingly insignificant days that made me who I am today. I am not saying that I have “arrived”, but I am saying that I have made progress in ways that could never have happened, had I not gone through some of those dark, dreary valleys.
I know more now than ever what Job meant when he said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” I feel in some ways like Joseph may have felt when he said, “God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” God has certainly taken me down paths that I would have personally never picked for myself, but here I stand today rejoicing at His great wisdom and how He has taught me things that I would have never learned anywhere else on the planet!
There is no greater testimony of God’s goodness than when He turns your midnight into melody. If you are reading this, and you are in a land of affliction, feeling lonely, weak, hurt, and weary, here is a word for you; hold on! One day, your baby will be delivered, and the pains of birth shall be forgotten for the joy of what is ahead in your life! You might not see it now, but there is a method to the madness in your life. God has not forgotten you. You may not know where He is, and at one point neither did Job. However, Job said, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Zechariah 6:12b says, “…he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:” Perhaps you too feel out of place. You are in a place that just doesn’t feel comfortable to you. You are hungry for more. So far, things haven’t turned out as you thought they would. Don’t worry, because God has a plan! Many times when we feel out of place is when God has us right where He wants us, in order that He might develop us into the men and women of God He wants us to be. At some point, things will shift and the house of the Lord will be built! In other words, God will manifest Himself to you as you continue to trust Him. Don’t question the path He has chosen; only question your progress!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning! There was a day that I despised my humble beginnings, but looking back, it was those isolated, lonely, seemingly insignificant days that made me who I am today. I am not saying that I have “arrived”, but I am saying that I have made progress in ways that could never have happened, had I not gone through some of those dark, dreary valleys.
I know more now than ever what Job meant when he said, “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” I feel in some ways like Joseph may have felt when he said, “God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.” God has certainly taken me down paths that I would have personally never picked for myself, but here I stand today rejoicing at His great wisdom and how He has taught me things that I would have never learned anywhere else on the planet!
There is no greater testimony of God’s goodness than when He turns your midnight into melody. If you are reading this, and you are in a land of affliction, feeling lonely, weak, hurt, and weary, here is a word for you; hold on! One day, your baby will be delivered, and the pains of birth shall be forgotten for the joy of what is ahead in your life! You might not see it now, but there is a method to the madness in your life. God has not forgotten you. You may not know where He is, and at one point neither did Job. However, Job said, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
Zechariah 6:12b says, “…he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:” Perhaps you too feel out of place. You are in a place that just doesn’t feel comfortable to you. You are hungry for more. So far, things haven’t turned out as you thought they would. Don’t worry, because God has a plan! Many times when we feel out of place is when God has us right where He wants us, in order that He might develop us into the men and women of God He wants us to be. At some point, things will shift and the house of the Lord will be built! In other words, God will manifest Himself to you as you continue to trust Him. Don’t question the path He has chosen; only question your progress!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill