There are times when our work and efforts can feel like small potatoes, trivial and insignificant, especially when we compare ourselves to someone more successful. People in Haggai's day were painfully aware that their temple couldn't hold a candle to the magnificent edifice built by Solomon. But God wanted them to realize that no work is small when he, the Lord, is in it.

Haggai 2:3:7, 9 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing to you? Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel" - the Lord’s declaration. "Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land" - the Lord’s declaration. "Work! For I am with you" - the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. "[This is] the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt, and My Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid."

For the Lord of Hosts says this: "Once more, in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all the nations so that the treasures of all the nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory," says the Lord of Hosts. "The final glory of this house will be greater than the first," says the Lord of Hosts. "I will provide peace in this place" - the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

In Business Terms

The Bible says we should not despise the day of small things. God's work is done "not by might nor by power but by my Spirit."

For instance, I'm praying for a person losing his well-paid position with IBM. His wife is in agony about all the changes, so we've been looking to God for answers. God impressed upon me that this woman had been hurt so many times that she no longer could believe in God's goodness. With that knowledge, I knew I should pray that she would see the goodness of God in order to remove the fear that stems from all her hurts.

We shouldn't see this kind of surrender as some heroic deed to become spiritual. Instead it should be a release to God. People who are discontented and angry at God about their day of small things miss the chance for God to do something in their lives.

Wherever we are - in our family, in our community, in our education, even in our culture - no matter how small or despised that place may be, that is where God can use us and bless us. We may not achieve the dreams of our youth, but we can be sure God will bring us into the dreams he has for us.