Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. (Zech. 4:6 ESV)

God sent the people back to Jerusalem to accomplish a herculean task in the face of stiff opposition.  They were to rebuild the Temple which had been in ruins for decades.  Their neighbors, however, didn’t want the Temple rebuilt and fought them at every turn.  In a series of visions, God reminded Zechariah that the people were not on their own to complete the assignment God gave them. 

There is a lot of symbolism in Zechariah’s visions, so he needed help understanding their meanings.  God gave that help, though, so the message is clear.  It can be summed up in the verse above.  The people would not complete the work by their own might or power.  Their might and power would be insufficient and fail.  The work would be completed only by the power of God. 

It is a lesson we need to learn, too.  The Church today, including North River, often gets sucked into believing that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to through our intelligence, giftedness, and experience.  There is such a delicate balance here, because God gave us those things and expects us to use them.  But, He always chastises those who rely on them rather than on Him.

Even Jesus said, “I can do nothing on My own,” (John 5:30 ESV).  That should jump off the page at us.  God the Son said that He cannot do anything apart from the power of God the Father.  He also told us that we are powerless without Him.  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing,” (John 15:5 ESV).

If we would get ahold of this message it would drive us to our knees before God, pleading for Him to unleash His power in our lives, our church, our community and our world.  We would be on our faces before Him, begging for His power to be at work bringing people we care about to salvation.  As it is, however, we far too often depend on our might and our power to accomplish what God already told us we can’t accomplish. 

Church, we need to hear the same message Zechariah and the people heard.  We cannot accomplish anything of eternal value through our own strength, wisdom, intelligence or giftedness – no matter how good we are.  We need to understand how desperate we are for the Spirit of God to go to work.  It is “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts,” that we will reach our families, our friends, our neighbors and our world.  Join me in calling on God to unleash His power in this place and in this day.