A few years ago, I had this strong impression to give up drinking. I was not, nor have I ever been a heavy drinker by any stretch of the imagination, but I had heard the Lord quietly whisper into my heart and mind that I needed to abstain. At first, I played the game we all play and convinced myself that surely that was just my own thought. Or it was just a crazy idea that was in my mind. I loved the Lord and my once or twice-a-week glass of wine was not a problem in my life. Still, the conviction continued and I knew deep down inside that it was God asking me to obey.

A couple of weeks into this mind-game I was playing to skirt obedience, I had a profound conversation with my dad, who had spent the majority of his life serving Christ across the world. When talking about obedience he said that Christians all want to do mighty things and grow to be “spiritual giants,” but are often not willing to surrender the little things. He then went on to say that the secret of a powerful and Godly life was obedience in the small things, not the big things. After years on the field, he had learned a valuable lesson. God blesses the surrender of small things more than he does the knowledge of big things. You see that small surrender is the mark of a small, but potentially powerful beginning.

I have been thinking a lot about new beginnings lately. Often what is admired and applauded is the end result, the grand finale, and the culmination of a work. In our paise of the end result, we often overlook the small, understated beginning. Rarely does anything new start big. Rather, most beginnings are small.

Science has shown us the beginning of our vast universe was incredibly small. Yet, today, we cannot see the edges of our ever-expanding universe. That minuscule moment was so impregnated with potential and promise. And as reality has unfurled, so has the promise of life, beauty, purpose, joy, and wholeness.

The prophet Zecharaiah spoke the word of the Lord to an exiled Israel. God’s word to his people was that of promise. Their sojourn would not be forever. The despair, sense of homelessness, and grief would come to an end. God was about to do something new, something small that would expand to cover the world.

In Zechariah 4:10, The Lord told Zechariah that the person who at one time despised small beginnings, would one day rejoice at the small sign of a new thing. The return home for God’s people would begin with a measuring line, a small thing.

“Look! I am about to do a new thing! Now it sprouts! Do you not perceive it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19 LEB)

A sprout is a small thing. A seemingly insignificant thing. We walk on sprouts without a second thought. But what God sprouts, will turn into a river of life, a way in the wilderness, a complex and spectacular universe.

“For look! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered, and they shall not come to mind. But rejoice and shout in exultation forever and ever over what I am about to create! For look! I am about to create Jerusalem as a source of rejoicing, and her people as a source of joy. And I will shout exultation over Jerusalem, and I will rejoice over my people, and the sound of weeping shall no longer be heard in it, or the sound of a cry for help.” (Isaiah 65:17-20 LEB)

We have just come out of Advent into the dawn of a new year. Jesus was that small beginning. One baby. Likely weighing less than 10 pounds and completely dependent on others to physically survive. It was this babe, this small, overlooked birth, that would change the world. Midnight is over because the Son has risen to brilliance and is taking back his creation moment by moment, person by person until the whole world is flipped back upright, as it was intended to be.

Friend, do not despise the small beginnings in your life. God’s kingdom is here and gaining ground every day. And within that kingdom, God calls people to partake in new things, small things. Every day he invites you and me to obey in small ways. Don’t despise those small requests. Don’t overlook them. Don’t ignore them, or scorn them. They are each seeds of potential. Each one of those choices is a small beginning waiting to sprout and bud, then grow into something beautiful, life-giving, and full of promise.

What new thing is being whispered into your heart? A call to spending time with Christ every day? An invitation to pray with someone? A command to give up something? Plant that seed, and water it with obedience. Then plant the next seed and one day you will look back on a flourishing vineyard bathed in the glorious light of the Son.

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