What is the Lord building in your life right now?
The Lord is always working in our lives. We might know about two or three of the things He is doing with us, but in fact, there are thousands of areas He is working in us, minute by minute, that we don’t even know about. “It is He who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
So I ask again, what is the Lord building in your life right now? Think about it for a minute.
Is He building perseverance, patience, faith, trust, peace, relationships, faithfulness…? We know the areas God is moving in our situation. Whenever God is leading us toward growth or a new calling or season, there is always a temptation to try to do it in our own strength. But God knows it must be His work, not ours; it must be a work of the Holy Spirit.
In Zechariah chapter four, we read about a vision that came to Zechariah about Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the civil leader of Israel in the time after the Babylonian exile. He was engaged in rebuilding the temple after the people had returned home. It was a huge undertaking, and there was much opposition from the surrounding peoples. God sent this word to Zerubbabel through the prophet Zechariah in chapter four, verse six, He says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, says the Lord Almighty.”
What is the Lord building in your life?
What are the areas He is knocking on, wanting to come in with His spirit and bring order? Where are you trying so hard in your own strength, to no avail? The Lord wants to remind you today that it is not your work; you don’t have to do it. All you have to do is let His spirit in; don’t resist Him. He is the one who will complete the good work in you and bring order to the chaos you are experiencing in certain areas of your life.
When we let God’s spirit in, to do the building in our lives then, it is just like God spoke to Zechariah in the next verse of chapter four. Verse seven says, “What are you, oh mighty mountain, before Zerubbabel you will be level ground.”
You see, as Zerubbabel understood, the building of the temple was not by his might or power, but by the spirit; as he invited God’s spirit to do the building work, then all opposition (the great mountain) became level. No opposition can remain in the path of God’s Holy Spirit.
What are the mountains in your life that seem so great, so impossible, so insurmountable?
I would encourage you to remember the word of the Lord. Your might, your power, your intellect, your niceness, your effort, your desperation are simply not enough to overcome, but if you will hand the work over to the Holy Spirit, He will bring order and peace to your situation. He will build the ruins of your life, just as He empowered Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple.
God goes onto say in verse nine, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundations of this temple; His hands will complete it.” God was encouraging Zerubbabel that the work would not drag on hopelessly with no end in sight. No, he was telling Zerubbabel that He would see the work completed. What are those areas in your life that feel so hopeless, where you feel you’ll never see an end to it, never see it finished? Well, the Lord is encouraging you today, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you will see an end to the struggle; it will not always be like this. “He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it!” (Philippians 1:6).
Today, it may feel like you’ve barely even taken the first step up what seems like a looming mountain of fear. Perhaps you feel you haven’t even taken the first step, you’re just living perpetually in the shadow of your mountain of impossibility; well, here in verse 10 God says, “who despises the day of small beginnings?” Maybe inviting the Holy Spirit into work on your mountain seems like a very small beginning, but remember, you should not despise this. This is the first step up the mountain. God’s Holy Spirit will do such beautiful work in you, you will see His goodness transforming your life, “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
You can’t do it on your own.
You are not up to the task, but it is not by your might, not by your power, but by God’s spirit. Hand your hidden areas over to God; give Him your chaos, your ruins, your mess. His Holy Spirit will do the work that you can’t do on your own.
And remember, when the work is done, all we can say is “to God be the glory; great things He has done,” because we know we didn’t do it ourselves.
