Empowering Grace

In the passage we read twenty years had passed since Zerubbabel was tasked with the rebuilding of God’s temple. At this point, he was dealing with two problems: enemies were trying to stop the building project, and discouragement and weariness were creeping into the hearts of God’s people. The Lord encouraged Zerubbabel by declaring that He will provide the grace to finish the task.

Have you ever felt like Zerubbabel, that the great task given to you is too challenging and has taken a toll on your soul? We can be encouraged by the word given to him. We will accomplish what God has assigned to us—not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit. As G. Campbell Morgan paraphrases, “Not by our resourcefulness, nor by our resoluteness, but by His spiritual resources!” By God’s grace and strength, we can accomplish what He has called us to do.

God’s grace was seen in how He helped and saved His servants. He intervened by touching the hearts of kings who allowed His people to rebuild the temple. The temple represented their identity as God’s people. It was where God would dwell and their place of worship. They were able to rebuild the temple even with opposition from their enemies. 

We can be comforted with the truth that what God wills, He fulfills. That doesn’t mean we stop working. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have to participate in His work. Zerubbabel worked six more years before the temple was completed. But they worked more effectively by relying on God’s strength, which He provided out of His grace.

In the same way, we will all be pleasantly surprised by what we can accomplish through the Spirit of God. All we can say will be an echo of what the Lord told Zerubbabel: grace, grace! The double affirmation points to the truth that it is by grace that God begins the good work in us, and it is by His grace that He shall complete it through us.

Application 

1. When faced with a challenge, what or who do you usually rely on? What does it mean to rely on God’s grace?
2. What do you think God is telling you about the challenges you are currently facing? In what areas of your life do you need to declare a double affirmation of grace, grace? Are you willing to persevere and keep going to see its fulfillment one day?
3. As the prayer and fasting comes to a close, our desire to grow deeper in God’s word and in His grace remains. How can we do this? By confessing and praying His word daily over our lives. Today, write your own prayer confession based on Zechariah 4:6,7.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for the grace with which You begin and complete Your good work in us. I acknowledge that I can never accomplish anything that you have called me to do apart from Your grace. May I continually be reminded that it is not by might nor by power, but only by Your Spirit. I need Your grace to sustain me and help me pursue all the tasks You have set for me. For the rest of 2020, I declare grace, grace over my life, my family, my nation, and the world. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.