If you are reading through the Bible in chronological order this year you have recently come through Zechariah. Good for you! This book holds one of my favorite verses. It's chapter 4:10
It's often translated:
"Do not despise the day of small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..."
As a beekeeper this verse hits home. In a worker bee’s lifetime she will only create 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey. If you follow me on social media then you've likely seen me processing gallons of honey from my hives.
Everything about beekeeping is small. The bees themselves, the amount of honey each can produce, the amount of nectar or pollen each bee can carry back to the hive on any one trip. So gallons of honey pouring out of the extractor or large amounts of wax being melted into candles is nothing short of a miracle.
But it's bigger than that. Our entire American food industry is resting on the wings of these tiny insects. In an effort to pollinate large amounts of monocrops beehives are relocated to commercial farms when crops are in bloom. (This isn't ideal for reasons I won't cover here but it is the food system that's been created in the US)
The tiny worker bee knows that she is working for her colony but she has no idea that the weight of the entire American produce industry has been heaped upon her. If she did she might despair. But she doesn't have any idea about that and goes about her business calmly and efficiently. I dare say cheerfully.
How about us? Are we doing the same? Are we doing the small work that needs to be done? Many of us are. Work that goes unnoticed. Unappreciated. Unpraised.
Work that seems tedious and feels monotonous. Every mother can relate.
So many of us want to do something great for God. To have lives that are rich and meaningful. To reach into the future with a legacy we leave. To be remembered.
Here's the thing, dear one, your faithfulness in the small things may be what is remembered. The one who prayed day in and day out. The one who provided for your family at a job where no one will remember your name decades from now. The one who dried tears, gave a kind word. The one who listened.
Do not be deceived into believing that greatness is having a famous name or vast wealth. (See the book of Ecclesiastes for a master class on this concept) Do not be enamored with the praise of this world. It is quickly passing away. The quest to make a name for yourself, the same quest of the people stacking stones at the Tower of Babel, is a dangerous one.
Whatever work the day holds for us let's do it cheerfully knowing that all work done for God rather than man is immeasurably important in the Kingdom of God. Our faithfulness is never wasted. Our prayers rise as incense to God and kind words are always as sweet as honey.
Colossians 3:23 tells us that whatever we do we should work at it with all our hearts, as for the Lord and not for man. Since we know we will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ we are serving.
Do not discount the scope and influence of your work. We see over and over in scripture how God loves using the small and underestimated and it's easy to think of David with his sling. But many times we see ordinary people used to further the kingdom in moments that likely seemed insignificant to them in the moment.
God used an unnamed boy who brought his lunch to a sermon and the widow with her small offering. Notice, we do not know their names. God does. They were not trying to make a name for themselves or make their way into scripture. Yet, thousands of years later we read about them. Something they never could have imagined in their wildest dreams.
So as you go about your tasks today, dear one, do not discount the value of the things you are doing in this season of life. You may find in the end that the God of the Universe multiplied your tedious efforts to change the world and better His kingdom.