Living Outloud: When your calling feels small

We open Zechariah and find real hope for anyone rebuilding, creating, or serving when the work feels smaller than it should. We talk through Zechariah 4:6-10 and learn how God measures success, why small beginnings matter, and how to keep going without chasing credit. 
• Zerubbabel rebuilding the temple and the pain of comparison 
• Not by force or strength but by God’s Spirit 
• Trusting God’s hidden work when progress feels slow 
• Letting God get the glory and doing a heart check on recognition 
• Praying bold prayers that require humility 
• Redefining success and asking God to level the mountains 
• You are doing better than you think you are 
• Do not despise small beginnings and why quitting often follows contempt 
• The plumb line as alignment with God’s Word 
• Not confusing numbers with impact in kingdom work 

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Transcript

Welcome And Why We Do This

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hey, welcome back to Out Loud Bible Project Podcast. This is Mike. I'm here with Kelsey.

SPEAKER_02 0:16

Hello.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

And this is Living Out Loud. We're going to take a look at what we read earlier this week on the podcast and talk about how can we actually live this out. Not just let the words stay on a page, but actually do something about them and actually have the word of God affect our lives in some way. Help us to grow closer to God and align our hearts with His. That's the good stuff. That's what we're here to do.

SPEAKER_01 0:36

What a concept.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

So amazing. Uh it's it's sometimes funny when we get into some of these books and it's just like, okay, well, what is there to talk about there? Like I've never even read this book. And and Zechariah is one of those books that's like not commonly preached. And frankly, I don't know why, because there's a lot of wonderful things in the book of Zechariah. Um, but let's let's dig into this book a little bit. And as we do so, can we just think about the work that is on our heart to do? Like the kingdom work. You feel like God wants you to do something, and you've maybe taken a step to maybe start it, but it just feels like well, this isn't really going well. Like Zechariah is uh is the prophet sent to kind of encourage Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel was sent to rebuild the temple, but it's rebuilt because there was already a temple. It was Solomon's temple. And Solomon's temple was awesome. Like Solomon had all the money living in a time of peace, had all the people in the kingdom working on this and contributing to this, and he had the best artisans, and like, and it was it was Solomon, the son of David. David funded it, Solomon had it built, like it was amazing. Like people from around the world would come see Solomon's temple to God. And this one, well, it was not going to be that. This was like built in a time of famine and built with some tired exiles who were just got into town. And Zerubbabel was just Zerubbabel, a governor. He wasn't like a king or anything.

When Your Calling Feels Underwhelming

SPEAKER_01 2:10

It was definitely a project that Zerubbabel was called to do, but it wasn't looking like some amazing move of God. It wasn't looking like the first temple was looking. It was kind of discouraging to just keep going through the process of rebuilding the temple one brick at a time, but it just it it I read this account and I just feel such a kindred heart with Zerubbable.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Any Christian artist is like, oh yeah, I know what that's like. Like I had this grand plan for what I was gonna do, and I I started it, and I'm like, oh, this isn't gonna be a thing. It's depressing because even in Zerubbabel's story, he they he started, and they're like, all right, let's build the foundation, and they built the foundation of the temple. And people were looking at it, and the older people who knew Solomon's temple literally cried. They're like, This is not gonna be. And sometimes we feel that way when we're like, maybe you're comparing against something that used to be, maybe you're comparing against something that it could be like the idea in your head, but either way, it just doesn't add up in your head.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Maybe you're comparing to what other people have been able to accomplish. Doing very similar things to what you're doing. And this isn't just for artists or physical builders. It could be that you feel like you want to write a book or start a podcast or just share your faith on social media, or maybe you've got some ministry in your heart that you want to start at church or that you've been working in at church for years, and it just isn't building the way that you had imagined that it would, and you're kind of feeling a little bit let down, a little bit discouraged, a little bit left behind as you feel like you're struggling through the plans that God set before you.

Zechariah 4:6-10 Read Aloud

Not By Might But By Spirit

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Well, if you're resonating with any of this, then this discussion I think is gonna be a big encouragement to you straight from the book of Zechariah. Let's get into it. I want to highlight the uh a certain section here of Zechariah, chapter four, verses six through ten. I'm gonna read in the New Living Translation. I think it it's a bit more conversational. It says this This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel. It's 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'll become a level plane before him. And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the temple in place, the people will shout, May God bless it. May God bless it. Okay. There's a lot of encouragement packed in here. Let's take it one thing at a time. First of all, I think here is a message that you can cling to from this section. First of all, God is doing more than you think he is. Don't forget that. God works in amazing, wondrous ways. Some of them are big and obvious. Many of them are kind of behind the scenes and not in ways that we perceive. But we have to trust that as we go about doing the things that we believe God has had kind of gotten us to do and and encouraging us to do, we gotta believe that he's actually doing more than he than we think he is.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

Yeah. We don't have to push that just that first phrase of the the verses that you just read, that not by strength, not by mic. Like it's we're we're kind of in a culture that's like push and hustle and work and strive and build mentality is what gets you to some level of success. But but this kind of kingdom success that God's talking about to Zerubbabel here isn't gonna be done because Zerubbabel hustled. Like it's not gonna be done because Zerubbabel is forcing it or pushing with his own might and strength. Like God is working behind the scenes, God is at work through Zerubbabel's work, and it's not gonna be Zerubbable that pull pushes it across the finish line. It's gonna be the spirit of God.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

And that's either discouraging or encouraging, I think, depending on how much you view your own strength. Like that might be like, oh man, like I have to rely on God and God's spirit. Or that might be like, okay, good, because I don't feel like I have any strength to contribute whatsoever. I I don't have any connections or influence in this. Uh either way, it's hard though. Either way, it's hard to admit, but it can be, it's gotta be encouraging that like the the success is gonna come by God's spirit moving and working. God's doing more than you think he is. Mountains will become planes. Who does that? You? No. Mountains that's that's God's stuff. That he turns mountains into planes. He makes impossible obstacles into literally not just not there, but like a path forward. That's like this is the right to travel now. You travel in the plains, that's where you make your road. He's gonna turn a mountain into the way that you are actually supposed to walk. And and he said people will witness the completion and what say, wow, Zerebbable, you did it, you did it. No. They say, May God bless it, may God bless it. They're gonna praise God from this. If you, if you, if you stay faithful, if you keep your wits about you and and stay dedicated to the Lord's moving in this, then people are gonna see the Lord in this and be able to give him the credit for it. That's kind of hard, but that's what we gotta do.

Let God Get The Credit

SPEAKER_01 7:10

And it should be what we want. Yeah. Like, and I'll admit, there's been times that like that I've done something and I haven't gotten the credit I think I deserve.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

I put a lot of work into this.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

You know, like I that was a good idea I had. Why is no one telling me that I had a good idea? Um, and we it's it's those moments though that we really have to do that heart check of like, you know, I have to have a come to Jesus moment and be like, who's whose glory am I really working for? Who do I want to be credited for this? Like it feels good as a person in my flesh to have someone say, Hey, that was great. Kelsey's so that was so good. I'm so glad you did that. But that scripture teaches that that is all the reward that comes from that. Like, if you get a pat on the back and a good job, then great, that's what you get for that. But when the glory is given to God, then your reward is in heaven. And I've got to believe that the rewards in heaven are way better than the accolades here. So it's just, it's just a heart check, though, of like when we hear the work at the end is going to encourage people to praise God, we should want that. And we can be honest and say sometimes we're not really aligned there. And sometimes we want someone to say, good jobs, rubbable. But that shouldn't be our driving force. That shouldn't be what we actually desire. And if it isn't what we actually desire, if we're still desiring some sort of accolade or attaboy from people around us, then we gotta, we gotta take that to to God and and confess that and ask for for his spirit to help us be more humble.

A Scary Prayer For Humility

SPEAKER_00 8:43

As we were starting to really kind of make official this ministry of out loud Bible, the podcast had been going for a couple years at this point, but then when it's like, you know, we're gonna go out into churches and and take this live and actually and really start this ministry of reading and performing the Bible out loud so people can understand it and engage with it and fall in love with the Bible again. I I I I remember praying, and I I still do, um, but I remember praying at the start of like, God, I I just want you to do something that only you can take credit for in this. And I I don't of course, I don't know what that is, and I don't know what that looks like. I just want I just want this to be something that you can take credit for. And that and that was the the posture of my heart. And that and that's genuine. However, the time since then, God has like, okay, yeah, we'll do that. And as a result, he has been showing us how very incapable we are and uh and and taking us down several notches and to the point where it's like good, because I if if we're gonna actually do something and live in such a way that only God can take credit for it, then he's gonna do something big, but that means we have to become very small. Not not so small that we are completely in uh uninvolved or I don't know, inconsequential, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Him getting credit does not mean we're incapacitated. It doesn't it also doesn't mean that we don't put in any work or effort and let God just do something outside of our sure uh efforts.

SPEAKER_00 10:13

Yeah, we are like, all right, God, you take this then. No, it's like even even God told Zerubable, go up into the hills, chop down some timber, bring it down, and just just that's what you can do. You go do it. Do what you do. The glory of this thing is not gonna be no one's gonna be able to point to anything you did and said, Oh, that's why this is so amazing.

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Oh, Zerubbabel found really good trees to chop down.

SPEAKER_00 10:34

He carried that tree all the way down the hill. Like, no, I mean, it if we're looking for God's glory, then it's it does it has to be less of us. And um it's a it's a scary prayer to keep praying, but I think it's the right one.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

And it's a humbling one.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Yeah, you gotta Which isn't fun. You gotta put yourself in the backseat.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

It's just usually not fun to be humble.

Redefining Success And Moving Mountains

SPEAKER_00 10:53

You g you give up control and you you give up any earthly reward, you know, and and let him sort it out, I guess. I don't know. That's where faith comes in. Uh, but just regarding this this first concept, if God is doing more than you think he is, we have to if if success will not come by force or strength, like he says, but by the spirit, you have to ask yourself, what does success look like for you? What success are you envisioning? And does that line up with uh with with God? And does that require your strength and your force? Or can success be redefined? I think we have to keep kind of asking ourselves, what do I think, what would I call successful in this? And do we know God's ways? No. But we do know if it's like kind of leaning on our own ambition or not, you know? The mountains becoming planes. What are the obstacles that you see in front of you? What are the mountains you see? Can you just pray that God turns them into planes? Because it's either gonna be him turning it into a plane or you're gonna try to hike your way up and back down that thing on your own. And you can save yourself a lot of time and energy and disappointment now by praying that he makes a straight path. Of course, that's gonna be his credit and not yours as a result. But um also who's watching? You say people will witness the completion and and praise of God, well, um, and and praise God for it. Well, who's watching you? You may know, you may not know.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

You may be hearing that and saying, no one's watching me because I'm the only one who knows I'm doing it.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

Well, maybe it is time to involve some more people and and say, hey, I would you pray for me? Would you come, would uh would you support me in this? Uh you're not selling anything to anybody, you're just like, I need a community and and I want you to be able to see what God does. And also know there are more people watching than you think.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Yeah.

You Are Doing Better Than You Think

SPEAKER_00 12:42

Like that's how God's gonna get his glory too. Um so that's that's the first thing. God's doing more than you think he is. Here's the second thing. You're doing better than you think you are.

SPEAKER_01 12:50

Ugh we need to hear this.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

You're doing better than you think you are.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

People in this in the space of a small beginning need to hear this. I need to hear this. You're doing better than you think you are. You're not behind. God's not neglecting you, you're not forgotten. You're doing better than you think you are. You're the the hours you've poured in, the prayers that you've prayed, the the heart and passion that you've given to whatever it is that you're doing, like is is more effective than you think it is. Um, and perhaps we don't feel that way because we're trying to measure what we see of what we've accomplished so far against some vision that we have, or against somebody else's success, or against something from the past, and it's not lining up, and so we just don't feel like we're doing very well. But God is telling Zerubbabel, and I think he's speaking to us right now, you're doing better than you think you are.

Do Not Despise Small Beginnings

SPEAKER_00 13:42

Because God said through Zechariah to Zerubbabel, like Zerubbabel started this work and he will complete it. And the same goes for you. Like you you started this thing, okay. Even if it's just an idea in your head yet, you know, like you've started it, you'll complete it. You will. And what I love is is God saying do not despise these small beginnings. This is Zechariah 4, 6 through 10 again. Zerebbable is the one who laid the foundation of this temple. He will complete it. Then you'll know that the Lord of heaven's armies has sent me. Don't despise these small beginnings. For the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand. You started it, you'll complete it, and don't despise these small beginnings.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Yeah. Why does he have to say that? Because we despise small beginnings.

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Yeah, like the small beginnings is just like it feels like anyone all the list of people who cares about this thing is me.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

And my mom.

SPEAKER_00 14:40

And maybe my mom. And my mom maybe likes it. Like that's that's a small beginning, and it's real easy to just despise this time because it's like I don't, I don't, I I want to have it make money. I want people to know about it. I want to be able to leave my job. I don't know, whatever the situation is.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

I want to I just want to see some impact. I want to see some growth. I I want to see more people involved, and and you're not seeing that.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

And so it can help so many people, but nobody knows about it. And it's uh it's just easy to be like, just compare against what you it used to be or what it could be, or what you want it to be, or what other people are doing in a similar vein, and just be like, this is just small and inconsequential, and this is why am I wasting my time?

SPEAKER_01 15:20

Because the problem is if you despise those small beginnings, you will never see it completed because you'll walk away from the things you despise. We don't typically lean into and invest more in things that we despise. We despise them and we walk away. We drop them, we get rid of them out of our lives. And so if it's if there's something that God's truly put on your heart that you care deeply about and you want to see come to fruition, that small beginning time is is likely to cause some dissonance and some discouragement that leads you to want to despise it and walk away from it. But that is a tactic from your enemy who just wants to kill it before it grows up. Like it he wants to just kill it.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Satan knows it's easier to kill babies than adults, you know, like in the whole natural world. What what's a what's a lion gonna do? Attack the the buck gazelle or the baby gazelle. He's going after the baby gazelle.

SPEAKER_01 16:13

And so the small beginnings that we're in, they're the they're the baby gazelles, and your enemy wants to destroy them before that they take off and before they grow. And so um the encouragement to do not despise the small beginnings is so crucial because it's really just saying stick with it, right? Stick with it and trust that God's working in it, even when you can't see it, even when you don't see the success or the growth or the the momentum that you hope for, stick with it. Otherwise, you're just letting Satan kill it before it's delivered.

The Plumb Line And Heart Alignment

SPEAKER_00 16:48

And and the heart of this of not despising these small beginnings is also to start seeing you, yourself and your situation as the way God does. That's why this is so important. That's why we read the Bible. I I feel like I say it all the time, is like, is to get to know the heart of God. You read the Bible to get to know God's heart on situations, and then align your heart with his. And he is not despising your small beginning. So why are you? In fact, it's quite the opposite. It says the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerebbable's hand. Now, a plum line, unless you are a a construction worker, even nowadays, but especially, you know, in ancient times, uh may we are not super familiar with plumb lines, but that was like the first step. That was like before you do anything else, you hold up this plumb line, which is basically a weighted rock at the end of a string. Very simple, but you just hold it, and then that shows you what actual vertical is. It makes sure that you're lined up upright. And that's the first thing. Before you lay a foundation, before you put up a beam, you hold up the plumb line, you say, what is vertical? Which is a great which is a great message in and of itself. Like the first are you are you aligned? Are you is your work and your heart and your attitude, is your first step lined vertically straight to heaven? Are you connected with God in the very first steps? And it's not just the first step either, it's actually throughout. Every time you you uh put up a vertical, you uh hold it up to the plumb line and say, is this straight? Is this crooked? The plumb line is is is the standard. That's like the Bible. That's like this is correct. This is straight, this is straight from God to us. Anything that I put up, I need to make sure it lines up with it. And so when we do that, it doesn't seem like much. It's not it's not like a brick is being laid and it's progress, doesn't look like progress toward the final thing.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

No one else is seeing that.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

No, no one sees you put up the plumb line.

SPEAKER_01 18:47

It's not a public display. It's no one's walking by after work hours and being like, ooh, I see some progress got made today. No, it's it's not the visible physical progress, it's the it's the heart alignment. And the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

He sees it. He's like, Yes, that's my dude. He's look at that. He's holding the plumb line up. He's starting it, and he's making sure that he that the first step is like he's gonna do it right. That's awesome. God throws a party when he sees you take your first step, especially when that first step is like, okay, does this line up with God? Does this line up with the Bible? He's like, Yes, that's what I want to see. This is the it's happening. And like he's calling his angel friends over. He's like, check this out. Look, they're doing it. They're they're lining their work up with the Bible. They're they're talking to me and asking me if this is, you know, lined up with the way I see it. And this is awesome. Like, it's happening. And God's excited about it. All if all we see is just like, eh, I don't know, I made a post and four people on Facebook liked it. Okay. Well, God's rejoicing. Are you? Or are you despising these small beginners?

Small Numbers Big Impact Closing

SPEAKER_01 19:49

Oh man, if we could just see what we're doing from God's perspective, uh, I I I just pray that for us and for you, that that the Lord would give you that the Lord would speak to your spirit and give you a vision of just a glimpse of how he sees you and how he sees that thing that you're doing. Um so that you can rejoice in it the way he's rejoicing. Because if we've got either despising it or rejoicing in it on a spectrum, like I'd I really would rather be on the rejoicing side, but I find myself in my personal things so often on the despised side because it I don't feel good enough. I don't feel like it's what I see other people accomplishing. I don't feel qualified. I don't feel like anything's taking momentum, and I just see all this negative stuff. And I really believe I I have to believe from reading this this passage in Zechariah, the way the Lord spoke to Zerubabel, the Lord is rejoicing at the beginning of things. The Lord is rejoicing at each small step taken as it as you step forward in faith, aligning yourself with him, that plumb line idea again. Like you wanting to align your life with what God wants for you and you wanting to take those steps, like even before you take the steps, the fact that you want to makes him rejoice in heaven, much less when you do take steps, however small they may be. And so my prayer for us in our small beginnings, my prayer for you, um, with whatever small beginning you might find yourself, uh, is that you would is that the Lord would speak to you and share with you a glimpse of the way he's rejoicing over you and what you're doing that that will bring glory to him.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Well, there you have it. Some really potent encouragement from the book of Zechariah of all places. Uh, as I I think back of almost 400 episodes of the podcast here, we're still in small beginnings. Like we're we're not, you know, seeing a whole influx of of people listening in. Um, but we have to remember not to confuse numbers with impact. Throughout the Bible, God works with small numbers, but makes big impact because that's what he gets glory for. So I'm so glad that you've joined us here today in your small beginnings as you walk with us. in our small beginnings and together we look forward to seeing what God does in and through little old us. Let's keep going. Let's not give up and let's keep holding that plumb line up and uh we'll talk next time. Thanks for joining us on this Living Out Loud. We'll see you then.