381. Celebrating God's Grace, The Little Things Matter

The little things in your life matter. The information you carry within your heart and mind can influence the way you see things. Grow with Robin Kirby-Gatto in your understanding of what might be hindering you from seeing the little things that you need to implement, to make your life better.

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Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, A Women World Leader’s Podcast, I’m your host Robin Kirby-Gatto.

Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate God’s grace, in our lives, in our ministry, and around the world.

Today’s Podcast is titled, “The Little Things Matter.”

“Who [with reason] despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice when they see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel. [These seven] are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro throughout the whole earth.” (Zechariah 4:10 AMPC)

Set to the invisible clock of the New Year, our expectations rise with the hope that specific things will happen. Some people make a list in their journal, while others put it on a piece of paper held by a magnet on their fridge.

Zerubbabel knew this well, as he was now rebuilding the second Temple of the Lord. He’d already laid the foundation, but because of the distractions in his life, he, along with the rest of the Jews, put the rebuilding of the Temple to the back of his mind. The distractions continued until the Lord sent two prophets, Zechariah and Haggai, to redirect the focus of His people.

Trying to reach a goal can be daunting at first. However, more is going on than meets the eye. What’s really occurring beneath the surface, is the soul feels deficient in completing the task. Inadequacy whispers to us like a familiar friend, until we realize, it’s not a friend at all. Surely this is how Zerubbabel, the rightful governor over Judah, must have felt.

In 2003, the book of Zechariah reeled me in like a fish. I was drawn to the incredibleness of the prophet’s supernatural encounters, as well as the tasks God gave him, to redirect the people to fulfill their God given destiny. This book topped all fictional books I’d read, except this was true. I wonder if it might be how, one feels today, watching a science-fiction movie, over the top surreal, and captivating.

I read chapters one through four, over and over for years, and found myself continually pausing on Chapter 4, at the rebuilding of the Lord’s Temple, and this governor of Judah, Zerubbabel. Chapter 4 seemed like a cipher to be decoded, and I was intent to spend as much time as necessary on it, which has now turned into two decades, in deciphering bits and pieces here and there. Each time I think that I cannot get anymore revelation of this chapter, the Lord surprises me, and opens my understanding even more to His scripture.

In 2021, God had me write the book Mindfulness the Mind of Christ, which unpacks more about Zerubbabel’s struggle in Zechariah 4. He had me study Information Theory, which is basically the science of communication, such as phones, internet, conversations, and the like. Scientists from AT&T (Bell Telephone Laboratories) in the late 1920s were behind this field of science. One of them was Harry Nyquist, who was the leading scientists to contribute to what is known today as Information Theory. One of the major concepts of Information Theory, is the means by which to protect the communication of information.[i]

You and I are carriers of information. We carry it in the form of our neurons, where memories are encoded, as well as in a particular receptor in the body, the G Protein-Coupled Receptor, which stores memories at the cellular level. Amazingly enough, what you and I know to be our emotions, are what the leading research Dr. Candace Pert, along with other scientists, proved to be the “molecules of our emotions,” they are experiences of unpacked memories, or can I say “information.”

You’ve heard the saying about being in a relationship, where you don’t need to bring any “old luggage” in with you. The meaning of that saying is best understood, by not bringing in old information from past relationships, which might affect the present one.

We’re constantly bringing in old information from prior relationships, jobs or places we’ve lived, that might influence our present reality. This happened to Zerubbabel. Israel had been in captivity a long time, and now they were not only given freedom, but given the means by which to build a Temple for the Lord. Their prior information of the Babylonian captivity was interfering with their interpretation of the message of God. This is where the prophets Zechariah and Haggai come in. They were the Error Correction Code, messengers who were sent by God to protect the message.

The Error Correction Code has a special element used in protecting information, which is redundancy. You know how you usually don’t like people being redundant when they say the same thing over and over, which you might find yourself being that way, well in Information Theory, it’s a good thing. Redundancy in the Error Correction Code allows the same message to be said this way, that way, this way, and that way.

Prime examples of this are when people say two words that mean the same thing, such as “exact same,” “merge together,” and “adequate enough.” The two words used commonly together have the same meaning. Exact and same have a common meaning, you don’t need the two used together. We see the same pattern with “merge together,” and “adequate enough.” These are phrases of redundancy. Southerners aren’t the only ones guilty of this; I’ve heard it from people in the north, as well. For example, one might say, “That is the exact same shirt I bought.” You don’t need “exact and same” together, just use one or the other.

This might be easier to relate to Information Theory, with the long trips that parents take, where their children in the backseat ask, “are we there yet?” Imagine that phrase translated into different languages, said over and over an entire trip. That’s like the Error Correction Code, the same thing is being said, just in different translations. However, the whole purpose is to protect the message.

Jesus did this in the Gospel, as He would tell His disciples what He was going to teach them, and then use a parable, and later explain what the parable meant. Jesus on purpose was redundant about the message of truth He was teaching at the time.

The purpose of the Error Correction Code is to protect the message by being unequivocally redundant, so that anything contrary to the message would stick up like a sore thumb. This is what the power of the Word of God does, it comes into our mind and body as information, to protect us against the lie of the enemy, where all information that is contrary will be obvious.

The information of Zerubbabel’s prior captivity moved inside of his members, encoded in the form of memories in his neurons and receptors. He might have felt deficient and discouraged, unqualified to rebuild the Temple. However, those whispers of inadequacy were his old luggage, past information, that was now sticking up like a sore thumb, in the overwhelming task God called him. He was with the first wave of Jews led out of exile, now given the task of rebuilding the Temple of the Lord. Talk about a New Year’s goal, that tops them all!

God sent the prophet Zechariah to redirect Zerubbabel, by the simple message, “who despises the day of small beginnings.” This phrase became the Error Correction Code for Zerubbabel to build the Temple of the Lord.

Every task, no matter how small, appears like a larger task to someone else. It’s all relative. Balancing the checkbook might be easy for an eighteen-year-old but ask a four-year-old to do it. Likewise, each of us has a task, a goal, that someone else might not have, but can feel mountainous and overwhelming.

The Hebrew word for small beginnings is qâṭân pronounced kaw-tawn' and means, “least, less, little, small, etc.”[ii] I love the ancient Hebrew symbols before the Babylonian captivity, which almost look like caveman drawings. This ancient Hebrew was what the first five books of the Bible were written. Each of the Hebrew Aleph-Bet letters were a symbol, that had meaning, and when put together create a “word picture.” For me, these word pictures created by the ancient Hebrew symbols, amplify the meaning of a Hebrew word. If we peer at the ancient symbols here and their meaning, it will make this message simple, of knowing the message of God for your life, and walking in it.

The Hebrew letters that compose “small beginnings,” are Qoph, Tet and Nun. Already I’m delighted as I see the meaning of these three letters together. Qoph is the ancient symbol of a sun on the horizon, as well as the back of a head, and means “rising, follow, behind, and least.” Tet is the ancient symbol of a snake surrounding a rock and means, “to surround.” Then Nun is the ancient symbol of a fish in the water swimming and means, “life and activity.” Therefore, the Hebrew letters for “small beginnings,” compose the word picture, THE LEAST THING THAT SURROUNDS YOU IS LIFE!

Do you see the small gifts of your life, given to you by God?

Furthermore, the prophet Zechariah instructed Zerubbabel with the cipher that followed “who despises the day of small beginnings,” with “these seven shall rejoice” when they saw the plummet (plumbline) in Zerubbabel’s hands. A plumbline in the ancient days, looks like a string attached to a weight of some sort, something made of stone or metal.

Thus, the “small beginning” was for Zerubbabel to return to picking up the string with a weight on it. By holding up this string, “these seven will rejoice.” These seven here are a metaphor for the seven-fold dimension of Holy Spirit revealed in Isaiah 11:2, of the fullness of Holy Spirit that would rest on Jesus Christ. The seven-fold dimension of Holy Spirit represents the different facets of Holy Spirit that serve a purpose.

You might be a mother, wife, daughter, friend, and worker. Each one of those facets are still you, which serves a purpose for each role. Likewise, Holy Spirit is identified as The Spirit of the Lord, Wisdom, Might, Counsel, Understanding, Knowledge and The Fear of the Lord. Each facet serves a purpose. For example, the Fear of the Lord keeps us from sin.

Thus, Zechariah the prophet was encouraging Zerubbabel, with the fact that GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT WAS REJOCING, over just a little string with a weight that the governor held in his hand. It was the smallest thing that caused God to rejoice; He knows that it takes the small task to lead up to the “finishing task.”

What is it that you have as a goal for this year? Is it to grow spiritually, then read an extra verse and set more time to prayer. Is it to be better physically, then implement walking three days a week for twenty minutes and a good eating lifestyle. Is it to be a better wife, then make sure you really listen to your husband, and pray for him. Is it to be a better mother, make sure you live in the moment with your children, so you don’t regret passing those moments up. Is it to be a better daughter? Enjoy your parent while you have them, knowing that one day they won’t be here. Is it to be a better worker? Then look to where you can add God value to others in the office.

It's the little things that keep you on task, as the old information of your deficiency is removed, where you’ve made room for the truth, to recognize the Life God has given you, that surrounds you, the good and perfect gifts from the Father of Lights!

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theory#Information_Theory

[ii] Strong J. (1890) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Abingdon Press. Hebrew word # 6996 “small”