There’s a discouraging side to goals. We spend a few days or even weeks thinking about the person we want to be and things we want to do. It’s really exciting. It’s exciting to picture ourselves making better food choices or putting down our phone. It’s exciting to think about making more money in the job we love or putting our spouse first. But then, when we step back….we realize where we actually are.
The starting point.
I’m here to pep you up and let you know that this is not a depressing place to be. Those aren’t just my words. I found some encouragement straight from the Old Testament (thank you for the reference Jess Connolly!) tucked away in Zechariah.
Zechariah 4:10 says “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.”
Small beginnings.
Don’t despise small beginnings.
The Lord rejoices to see the work begin.
What a gracious God to send such a passage when I’m all but convinced that the fact that I need to change at all makes me hopeless beyond measure. A new phase of my journey is starting and that’s cause for celebration. The Lord is rejoicing. He’s not condemning. I’ll be tucking this verse away as I take off this year looking to be changed and not upset that there’s still work to do.
So what is your first step? Michael Hyatt says that the best thing you can do when you are starting a new goal is to make the first step really easy. Trust me, the discomfort will come, but the first step he says is really important to make achievable and something that will propel us forward. If you’ve made a big fancy list of goals, go through your list and map out the easiest first step you can think of and as you take action on it, rejoice knowing that the Lord too is rejoicing to see the work begin.
Leave a comment and share one small step you are rejoicing in!
Check out Val’s best tips for making real change happen in her book The Finishing School. You’ll get all the best information on goals, habits, margin, prayer and more!
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Love this, Val! 🙂