Got Big Dreams? Don’t Despise Your Small Beginnings

It is pretty easy to despise your small beginnings. When the work you’re doing to pursue the God-sized dreams and visions placed in your heart seem to amount to nothing. Nada. Zilch. 

You pour yourself into the task, give it your all, your time and your resources but your results look more like briars and tumbleweed rolling across the desert terrain than the lush, vibrant, tree of fruitfulness you envisioned. 

Discouragement sets in…

Exaggeration? Perhaps, but the amount of work committed to the vision belies the visible results and you are discouraged.

I’ve been there. And in many ways, I’m still there. 

For me, I’ve been planting seeds in a number of different places. 

I’ve scattered some ‘over there’ with the launch of a home care agency. I’ve tossed a handful along the side of the trail to pursue my nursing degree, and still some right here, when the stir to encourage others to pursue their own God-sized dreams led to this blog.

Lots of seeds. In good places. 

And I’ll admit, tender seedlings are beginning to grow but nothing compared to the lush garden flourishing ‘next door’. 

My neighbour owns that beautiful garden. She has an incredible green thumb that causes everything she touches to thrive. 

I enjoy the beauty of what she has produced and have even been blessed by what she shares of her bounty – she can be so generous.

My confession…

But here’s my confession.  When I return my gaze to my plot, doubt rears its ugly head…again.

“If God has called me to till this land – doing this thing, why hasn’t it begun to bloom?”

“Have I misstepped somewhere along the path?”

“Did I hear Him wrong?”

Or sometimes the sheer magnitude of the vision compared to the ‘little’ it is now convinces me that it will never amount to anything. 

But before I stumble headlong into the dark miry pit of wrong thinking, I hear the words, ever so gently in my spirit… my child…

Do not despise the day of small beginnings, the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.

Zechariah 4:10 NLT

These words were spoken by God to Zerubbabel (the governor of Judah) through the prophet Zechariah. Both he and the high priest Joshua were tasked to rebuild the Temple during the reign of King Darius I. 

The backstory…

During this time, the children of Israel had returned to Jerusalem after 70 years in Babylonian exile but had neglected to take care of God’s house – it was in ruins. Instead, they had made themselves comfortable in their perfectly paneled homes (Hag 1:4)

God’s direction to rebuild the Temple was clear but the children of Israel lacked motivation and heart to get the job done. They needed a fresh perspective of their future hope. And as they renewed their minds in the promises of God and the glory of His plans and purposes, they repented and rallied together to continue the work they had begun. 

And just like the children of Israel, when we feel defeated and believe the lie that our humble beginnings cannot accomplish much, remember, God rejoices when we trust Him to start the work He has prepared for us to do. 

So instead of despising our small beginnings…

1. Believe by faith we’ve been called to it

This is foundational. 

Our faith is what pleases God. 

If the Lord has called you to it, He will surely see it come to pass. Albeit, in His perfect timing.

The story of Joseph provides a good example.

From his youth, he was given a dream of his future. And although he didn’t understand the fullness of it in the beginning, He knew it was from God. 

His start was small. 

Youngest of the family. Hated by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, falsely imprisoned, but then, at the appointed time, ‘remembered’ by the king.  

The part that I stumble over is the time it took from Joseph’s dream in his youth to his installation as governor over the land of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh the king.

That’s about 13 years – yikes! 

But here we see Joseph’s unwavering belief that God would fulfill His perfect plan in him, and we are to be unwavering in belief too.

2. Persevere through the messy middle – this is where our greatest growth occurs

Oh the messy middle. So much happens here to refine us into the women of God we are called to be. 

If you lack patience… be assured your patience will be tested. 

You’ll learn that how you wait is just as important as the act of waiting. Do you wait in expectation of the hope you have or are you angry and disgruntled that things are not moving along as planned? A heart of worship, even when you can’t see the end, is pleasing to God.

What about love? Are you lacking compassion? Don’t be surprised if you are asked to sacrifice your wants and desires for the wellbeing of another. Or perhaps serving selflessly to meet the needs of ‘the least of these’(Matt 25:40) 

Making hard choices will also be par for the course. So are you willing to…

Get up extra early each morning or stay up late every evening to move your passion project forward?

Go back to school to learn a new skill even though your peers are comfortably cruising in their careers or gliding smoothly toward retirement?

Risk ridicule when you put yourself out there to share your God-given dream?

Invest financial resources to pursue your vision?

Remain committed to your calling when things do not look like you envisioned?  

The Lord does not promise it will be easy. In fact, we are guaranteed troubles when we work toward the advancement of His Kingdom (John 16:33).

But as God declared to Zerubbabel through the prophet Zechariah, the things we accomplish in His name will not be by our might or power, but by His Holy Spirit (Zec 4:6).

So rest assured, when we are faithful in our small beginnings, God is already at work to fulfill His great plans in and through our efforts.

3. Keep trusting God’s process

For me, the toughest part always comes back to trust.

By nature, I’m a logical thinker. I like to plan the outcome and know the steps I’ll take to get from here to there. But funny how faith turns that linear path upside down. 

Instead, God gives us just enough information to take our next step. This keeps us ever so close to Him throughout the process. Not six steps ahead and hopefully not five steps behind. But ideally right in sync with His Spirit who promises to instruct us and teach us in the way we should go (Psalm 32:8).

It is a day by day walk. Leaning into Him and not our own plans and strategies is how He moves us from where we are today to the place He has planned for us. And get this, it’ll likely be better than anything we can ever ask or imagine because HIs power is at work within us (Eph 3:20).

So friend, let us not despise our small beginnings but continue to believe we are here for an appointed time, and that God is at work to refine and prepare us for all that He plans to do in and through us for His glory.

And oh, what a testimony of HIs faithfulness it will be!