Waist Deep 2018 - August 10

Zechariah 4: 6 “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,” says the Lord almighty. (NIV)

When was the last time you attempted something so big you needed God’s help to pull it off?*

These words, recorded by Zechariah and spoken by God to Zerubbabel, should be our motto.* We could put it on T-shirts and bumper stickers. For Zerubbabel, God’s promise assured him that the resources and manpower he had would be enough to complete the task of rebuilding the temple. For us, it is a reminder of the times in our lives when the obstacles were so overwhelming that only the hand of God could have brought us through it. Whether it was at your job, in your personal life, or in Kingdom work, you knew that without God’s intervention, you would not have been successful. 

But what about the tiny little complications of life that you have navigated so capably? Did you think you managed those all by yourself? Just because it wasn’t a monumental obstacle, did you think that God didn’t care? Most of us spend our days putting out little fires and handling minor “urgencies” and we think nothing of it. It’s what we do. 

Like the people of Jerusalem in this story, we often have “false grounds of confidence.”* The fact is, I accomplish nothing by my might or by authority from others. I may get things done but on my own I am powerless to make a difference. What I do only accomplishes God’s purpose when his Spirit works. No matter what my resources – even with an army – I still rely on God to get the job done.   

We do not sufficiently exalt the power of God, unless we think it to be greater than our weakness.*