"This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel:
'Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the Lord of hosts. 'Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"'" Zech 4:6-7
Most messages in the Church world are about what you can do to fix yourself, about how you can be better, how you can change your life, how you can fix your marriage, relationships, etc.
While those things all seem admirable, this pattern flies in opposition to the truth found in the Gospel.
In Zechariah 4 we find a prophet delivering a message to the man who was in charge of the reconstruction of the Second Temple, but its progress had stalled due to various issues. This man is endeavoring to figure out how is going to accomplish what God called him to do, and the Word of the Lord came to him saying that he would not accomplish it by might nor by power, but by the Holy Spirit.
In that passage, we see the pattern of God working for us - that He does not plan for us to fulfill our calling by our work, our ability, or our measuring up, but rather that when we place our trust in Him, He will work by His Spirit on our behalf!
I know that in the greatest battles I've fought, the victory has not come through my own power or my own might. Victory has come by the Spirit of the Lord! When we were in the process of adopting our three kids, I was actually laid off from my job. This time was a struggle for us emotionally, mentally, and we had to be quite strict financially. The enemy was attacking us on every side.
Yet, God had His hand on us through the entire incident. We prayed, sought His face, and endeavored to be led in everything we did during that season. We walked out of there with a result we could have never imagined - I was employed again at the very same company that laid me off but with a significant raise, my seniority intact, and the offer came in the exact same day the severance ran out in the natural.
It wasn't our might or power that accomplished that, it was the Spirit of the Lord!
And then the Lord goes on to tell the mountain (or problem) facing Zechariah that this great, insurmountable mountain will become a plain. One translation says it will be reduced to a plateau.
I like how The Living Bible translates the end of verse 7, "And Zerubbabel will finish building this Temple with mighty shouts of thanksgiving for God's mercy, declaring that it was all done by grace alone."
Do you see the pattern here? It wasn't Zerubbabel's ability. The completion of the Temple was accompanied by shouts of thanksgiving for God's mercy. The Temple was built declaring that everything done was done by Grace alone!
That's the way you and I are to live our lives when we find ourselves on the other side of problems. We aren't to talk about what we've done, how good we've been, or anything like that.
When we see God has moved in our lives, we shout with thanksgiving and declare that everything was done by Grace alone!
So while there are natural steps we can take in marriage, life, finances, etc., don't let the natural steps become your source. Don't endeavor to make Christianity into a self-help book, because it was never designed to be one.
We wrote the other week about how the same God that called you to a task has endued you with the power to get the job done, that He hasn't changed His mind concerning your calling.
If you'll put your trust in Him, He'll reduce your mountain to a plateau and you'll find yourself on the other side in victory.
The only appropriate response to that is a shout of thanksgiving and to declare that it was all done by Grace alone!
By Grace,
Dave