“Who dares despise the day of small beginnings”
(Zechariah 4:10)
There are a few things that will not change.
The Attributes of God – what HE is, will not change.
The Character of God – who HE is, will not change
I know the verse in Zechariah well… it’s on motivational stickers and coffee cups, it is used in biblical end secular talks on entrepreneurship and business. and I am sure that somewhere in your house, you have at least one book that references it (or the principle) directly or indirectly.
But like many scriptures, it is the part next to it that carries the weight of it…
Why would you dare despise small beginnings, because God rejoices in its success!
That first sale or the first customer through the door. That first enquiry. God rejoices with you, because it is in His Character! What father does not rejoice in their child’s first words, first steps and every small success from there on out?!
So considering the character of God the Father, I want us to relook two passages in the bible that has often been a stumbling block for so many.
Matthew 25 and Luke 19 both tells a similar story (and one often used by sceptics to prove that the bible is not true)
The main gist of the story: A man/ruler/landowner has to go away, and gives three servants each a certain amount of gold/silver/treasure to look after.
One gets 5, one gets 2 and one gets 1 bag of gold (or 10 minas of gold, etc)
When he comes back, he asks them to show what they have done with it. The guy with the 5 bags of gold, doubled it. The same with the guy with 2 bags of gold, he also doubled it, and his master was very happy.
But in each case, there was one guy that buried the money, and just kept it safe… and gave it back, unused. he was not rewarded.
Many people don’t like that story because the poor guy who had the least still lost what little he had… but that is the point of the story… it was never about the gold!
(this is also the reason why the different details of the story in Luke and Matthew doesn’t matter. The core principle is the same)
Look at God’s character in these parables: God rewards the stewardship, not the results. God rewards the work we put in. God rewards the attempt!
Our perspective of success is not God’s perspective of success.
When the master handed out the bags of gold, he gave it to the men “each according to his ability”
(Matthew 25:16 NIV)
The master gave to each servant what they were capable of managing, according to their ability to grow into it.
Every single motivational and business book wants to tell us how to achieve what the top 2% or top 5% of the most successful people in the world has achieved… according to their results according to their net worth.
But God wants us build on our small beginnings, whether business, skills, Faith, or calling. He wants us to persevere and keep developing, keep building, keep pushing. He wants to rejoice with every success and help us up after every stumble.
If you buy a guitar, and never play it. You will never be any good at it. But if you play just a few minutes a day, no matter how poorly… soon your reward will come. And this is also in God’s Character. The master was happy with both servants who leaned into their calling.
The master didn’t care about the sum of the profit, he cared that the servant was willing to put in the work, and in the end was successful in what they attempted.
God rewards our stewardship. God rewards what we do with what He gives us.
Begin small…
Remain Faithful…
