I woke up at early o’clock on Christmas morning to get the cinnamon rolls out of the fridge to rise, and I couldn’t get back to sleep no matter how hard I tried. I’ve never been a great sleeper. I can usually get 4 or 5 hours straight, and then I’m up and down until I finally get out of bed. (Yawn!) 🙁
So I got up and made a cup of tea (shocker, I know) and decided to spend a few quiet moments with my Bible and the twinkle lights before the chaos that was sure to come.
I was catching up in my daily Bible reading, which is currently mostly in the prophets and Revelation. Not my favorite sections to read for sure, but I like to read the whole Bible in a year…..so I read them. Even though I was tempted to skip it. I was tempted just to skim over it, but I read it instead. And I’m so glad I did.
This little gem was hidden right in the middle of Zechariah:
“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Once again old men and women will walk Jerusalem’s streets with their canes and will sit together in the city squares. And the streets of the city will be filled with boys and girls at play. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small remnant of God’s people. But is it impossible for me? says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies…. Be strong and finish the task!” (Zechariah 8:5, 6, 9)
A little back story:
“All this” was life returning to normal. He was saying, “Remember how it used to be? Remember the good ole’ days when life was normal and you could sit safely in the streets and just be? Yep. That’s how it’s going to be again.”
And “the task” was rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple and the wall surrounding the city. No small task to be sure. After they were released from captivity, they returned home to a broken down, burned out, war-ravaged city, and they were to build it all back up again.
They started to rebuild and were hit with incredible opposition and persecution. Their lives were even threatened if they continued. So, they stopped.
There they sat, knowing their job was to rebuild yet scared for their lives with the promise of “life will be normal again here” ringing in their heads and looking at all of it thinking, “No way. This is WAY too much. In fact, this is impossible. What’s the point in trying? We can’t do this.”
Kind of like us sometimes, when we’ve prayed and we’re in that point in time between asking and receiving, between faith and sight, and we’ve been standing and standing so long and we’re tired. And we wonder, “Is He going to answer? Is faith ever going to be made sight?” And we want to just let go. When we’ve been staring down our mountain so long it starts to overwhelm us and zap us of all our strength.
Ever been there? I have. I have a mountain or two I’ve been staring down for years.
And then along comes the prophet to encourage them.
“All this may seem impossible to you now, but is it impossible for Me?”
Is it impossible? That’s the question. And the answer is:
To me, yes it is.
To Him, no way.
Nothing is impossible for Him.
Nothing.
Not anything.
Not even my mountain.
And that answers the next question. Can it change?
Yes.
Yes, it can.
Yes, it will!
They were looking at the situation and getting overwhelmed and discouraged because it was too big for them. God just wanted them to shift their focus from the problem to Him. To the Answer. To the God of the impossible.
“It’s impossible for you, but not for Me. Look at Me. Trust Me.”
I’m so glad I didn’t skip over Zechariah 8:6 early on Christmas morning. It was just the reminder I needed at just the right time to keep holding on to the promise and keep looking to the Author and Finisher of my faith.
He is soooooo faithful. And He’ll finish the work He started. He’ll bring the answer He promised no matter how impossible it seems. He’s just that good.