Do You Cringe At The “Small Things” That Bother You?

My encounter with Zechariah 4:4-10:I have to confess that I seek the signs and wonders of God more than I should.  I love the feeling of God’s presence when I see a person experience healing, or a display of the Holy Spirit over a person’s body, or a rush of warm Holy Spirit power through me.  These are so pleasurable that such experiences of “anointing” can become addicting.  This addiction is not a good thing.  God’s word says “it is not by might nor by power but by the Holy Spirit” in the small things that we truly meet God. The prophet Zechariah challenged us:  “Do not despise the day of small things.  But rejoice when you see the plumb line working in your life.”  (My paraphrase)  A plumb line is a builder’s tool, a string with a counter weight at the bottom to make a perfectly straight line. The builder uses it to make sure what he is constructing is going up straight and true.  If the plumb line is not in place, then whatever is put on the foundation becomes crooked. If the building goes up without being lined with the plumb line, then inch by inch, block by block, board by board the edifice is “off plumb” or not in alignment.  You don’t notice the “skew” at first but as the building is completed the whole structure is tilted, twisted or unbalanced.The plumb line in our lives are the “small things”.  By that I mean, the momentary choices we have to do things God’s way.  The “small things” are the flashes of negative emotion that need to come under the Spirit’s control, or the ungodly words that spew from our mouths, or our worrisome, faithless thoughts that don’t reflect our faith in God.  These are the “small things” that make up our plumb line.We need to let our plumb lines hang straight on a daily, hourly basis in order for our person, which is our spiritual building, to be built correctly. Every morning we should reset that plumb line in accordance with God’s word.  When a “small thing” occurs, we should not duck it or disregard it or despise it as an annoyance.  Instead we should embrace the “small thing”, and use it to keep us straight and true in our walk with the Lord.  This process is more important to our Heavenly Father than all the signs and wonders we experience.  It is in these “small things” that He does his work of sanctification, or straightens us up for the sake of his Kingdom.Set your plumb line straight each day.  Then rejoice in the “small things” that go on in your lives.  They are God’s instruments in keeping you on His straight line.In Christ,