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“Do Not Despise the Small Beginnings”

Crossing the threshold from the bathroom to the bedroom of our modest three-bedroom ranch-style home, I heard in my spirit, “I made you to write.” This was not the first time I had heard God speak to me so clearly and directly, and His words did not entirely surprise me. I had enjoyed journaling for over a decade. Writing was fun and therapeutic for me. It’s how I pray, vent emotions, and how I praise God and record life. I was thrilled to hear this from God, but what stumped me was, “How?” “What?” and “Would anyone be interested in reading what I write?”

Taking writing from private to public means it’s not all about me anymore, it’s about you. My writing becomes a gift that I give. Would you want to receive this gift? Would I have anything to say that you would want to read? What if I make a lot of grammatical errors? There is certainly a lot of “noise” on the internet, why add to it?

At the time of this calling, I had a new baby, a preschooler, and a kindergartener. Needless to say, I didn’t do a whole lot with it at first. Sometimes I pretended it never happened, but I was only fooling myself. As the years passed, God would remind me of His calling. This happened through the words of friends, acquaintances, and complete strangers who had no idea God had asked me to write. One evening at a church prayer meeting, a man I had never met before gave me a word about my writing coming from stacks of journals I had neatly placed on a shelf in my closet in chronological order. Had this guy been snooping around in my bedroom unbeknownst to me? No, but he did have a prophetic gift, and God was using him to encourage me to pursue my calling.

Fear and the busyness of life kept me from moving forward, but before long, the urge to take steps toward writing grew stronger. Like labor pains before giving birth, I could not avoid it. In fact, I’d received two other words from individuals who told me I was “pregnant” in the spirit. Not with a literal baby, but with something else God wanted to birth through me. I knew immediately they were referring to this writing. So I started to take steps. I embarked on some training and wrote the story of my life so far, which was a good “warm-up.” I desire to write books, and they will come. For now God is giving me short pieces that are appropriate for a blog, so that is what I am doing.

Zechariah 4:10 states, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin” (NLT). I find this very encouraging. I don’t know what God will do with this writing, but I’m going to start it. He asked me to do this, so my job is simply to obey. As I write what I believe He wants me to write, it brings me joy to walk in His calling.

What’s tugging at your heart? What might God be asking you to do or take steps toward? “Do not despise the small beginnings.” Take a step. Make one move. God will take care of the rest. He will be the one to multiply and grow your efforts. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” Zechariah 4:6b (NIV).

As for my quandary about all the “noise” on the internet? If I’m writing about God, I’m happy to be adding to the symphony of worship.

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Elizabeth Mathey-Contact Gray Border

About Me

I am a child of God, a wife to Seth, and a mother to James, Luke, and Eva. The Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). I became a “new creation” at the age of 23 when I surrendered my life to Jesus and was delivered from a decade of depression. Read more...

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