As humans, we are so conditioned by the world around us and the pressure to succeed, to spend so much time focusing on the end results of something and the finish line of a process. That can be a wonderful discipline in business, getting in shape, running marathons, and other areas of life.
However, when it comes to relationships—whether romantic, friendship, business, or others in our life—the danger is that many times, we fail to look at the small things when trying to rebuild, repair or restore a relationship. We can get so focused on the big picture that we lose sight of the little things happening right now, every day, that add up.
One of the most powerful things we can do in relationships is stop, take inventory, and say, “how will I get there?”
In the Bible, there’s a great story of how God directed Zachariah to tell Zerebubbel to “not despise the day of small things” when they were faced with rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. They weren’t used to starting over, especially when they had nothing to start with.
How do you get excited and motivated about starting over at small when you used to have a big thing going?
See, when we have a big thing going and we have to start over small, instead of being excited about what the small thing can turn into, we become exhausted by looking at all the work that we have to put into it.
God went on to tell Zachariah, “Tell Zerebubbel to start shouting as soon as he sees the plumb line being laid.” The plumb line was the beginning of a project, the starting point to the rebuilding of the temple. God wanted Zerebubbel to start shouting as soon as he saw the plumb line because it was a sign that they would finish what God had already started. So although Zerebubbel didn’t see any progress yet, he rejoiced anyway, believing that God already had plans figured out for the rebuilding of the temple.
Like Zerebubbel, can you look for the plumb line? If you’ve seen just a flicker of God beginning to lay a plumb line in your life, give him shouts of joy! You haven’t seen the whole building process or the end result yet, but the fact that the line’s there means God already has it worked out. Why? Because He never starts anything He hasn’t already finished!
If you’re faced with a crisis and have been sulking in it for the last few days, weeks, or months, let God purge this thing out of you. Quit sitting down and meditating on the worse case scenarios. Look for the plumb line. If you see the plumb line, you might want to prepare to start building, just like when you see a cloud, you start preparing for the rain.
That relationship you’re stressed about might have looked like it was over the other night, but then you saw something in her eye, in his eye. It doesn’t make the situation all better immediately, but the fact that you may have seen something that you hadn’t seen before is a plumb line, it’s the beginning of a process. God is already on track to helping you build a better relationship with your husband, your wife, your friend, your boss…but it’s up to you to follow in His footsteps and start building.
Remember, He said, “I’ll bless the things you set your hands to…” Give Him something to work with!
