The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon.

“For who has shown contempt for the day of small things? But these seven will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” 

—Zechariah 4:10

Sometimes we get discouraged with all the small things—one tiny step after another. We want to see results. We want our efforts to be rewarded now.

But God rejoices over our small beginnings. He knows the only way to have a result is to be faithful in all the tiny steps along the way.

Even the first step of planning is rejoiced over—holding the plumb line to get everything straight before beginning the work of rebuilding the temple. There are no visible signs of progress—just planning, measuring, preparing. 

It’s easy to dismiss the importance and value in these early steps and long for the days we can already see the walls going up and the structure taking shape, but each step is necessary and worth celebrating.

Perhaps we’re just beginning and others are showing contempt for our efforts because they can’t yet see the visible rewards. Or maybe we’re doubting the value of what we’re doing ourselves—doubting whether it will ever amount to anything and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the breadth of the work ahead of us.

We can trust that the Lord is rejoicing over every tiny step we take along the way to obeying him and building the kingdom.

Let’s rejoice over every new beginning and each small step. Many of them will seem tedious, but they are all getting us closer and closer to building something meaningful.

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