Godly Enthusiasm - Zerubbabel

“This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him!”

Zechariah 4:6-7

We all dread failure, and who among us hasn’t experienced it?

Think of the last time you planned, prepared for, and were passionate about something that just didn’t happen. Maybe a project at work began well but got stuck on your “things to do later” list. Perhaps you planned to make family Bible study a priority only to find that you couldn’t fit it into everyone’s busy schedules.

Zerubbabel, who led the first band of Jews back to Judah following the Babylonian captivity, probably felt a similar sense of failure. He oversaw the reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple that the Babylonians had leveled seven decades earlier. Though the project began well enough, over a period of sixteen years, the people’s enthusiasm for it waned, leaving an unfinished, useless shell of a building sitting on the Temple mount.

It’s not hard to imagine that Zerubbabel felt a deep sense of discouragement over the stalled project. God had personally chosen him to oversee the task, yet the Temple just sat there, mired in the quicksand of a thousand excuses.

Into this disheartening situation came the prophet Zechariah, who carried a simple but vital message: “Don’t depend on your own strength or that of the people to get the job done, Zerubbabel. Instead, depend on God and his ability to empower you for the task.”

Zechariah’s message couldn’t have come at a better time. It renewed Zerubbabel’s faith and passion for completing what he had started. With that renewed sense of enthusiasm, he united the people of Jerusalem and got them back to work.

God has the same message for you today. No worthy project is about human force or strength; it must be about his mighty Spirit. Trust that God will give you everything you need in order to complete the tasks he sets before you.

Everyone is disappointed now and then, but discouragement is a choice. Do you genuinely believe that God’s Spirit holds the key to your success, or do you think that you or someone else does? Discouragement cannot hold you in its icy grip if you allow the Spirit of God to burn brightly in your soul.