Zechariah 4:6

Thinking about the summer, Erin read a verse during her devotions yesterday that is a great reminder of what it's all about. We've decided to connect with it as our theme verse for the summer.

"...Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord Almighty." Zechariah 4:6

Now, we could just skip over the context of the verse and apply it directly to ourselves, but I'm not sure I like pulling verses out and applying them without noticing what's said around it. So here's the context. The temple was destroyed and the Israelites were returning from exile. They had begun to rebuild the temple...but eventually quit after being distracted with building their own houses. They became too busy with their own stuff and began neglecting God. God took his hand of blessing off from them, but in the midst of all of this a leader was raised up. Zechariah was a prophet who predicted the leader Zerubbabel would lay foundation and complete the rebuilding of the temple. The next verse (7) is cool too...it says "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground..."

For our own application of the verse? All I know is that it is a great reminder. Our thinking can shift so easily to ourselves, not necessarily in a positive stance. If we've had ideas that have seemed to flop, or a meeting doesn't seem to go as well as we'd hoped, or papers pile up and there doesn't seem to be enough time to get everything done in...we may start to wonder what we did wrong. Thoughts enter our minds like "Well, if only I had said this... Or maybe if I spoke up more, or less, or put forth more effort, or maybe my ideas weren't that great..." This verse serves as a reminder to us that it's really not about us at all. It's about God...it's not by our strength, or about the power we have or may want (or don't want), it really is by God's Spirit. See, in His power we can look at those mountains and watch as they become level ground.

It's so cool to shift our focus and align ourselves with God. I want my heart to beat with his...don't you?