Don't despise small beginnings... but don't stay there either!
A couple of weeks ago I had my sixth birthday! February 16th 2017 marked six years in the ‘blogosphere’ for me. I must admit, I was pretty taken aback. I mean, a lot has happened since that first post. But as I re-read it, I recognised that, in some ways, many things have remained the same. That first post spoke about love. As a recently dumped single, it seemed appropriate to talk about the fact that God’s love is so much more vast than any I might ever experience from a man.
Ever since that very first post, I’ve spoken about how God is bigger, that His love is vast and is beckoning us to dare to dream. Ever since that first post, I’ve wanted to encourage people not to settle, and I’ve wanted to help people to see beyond themselves. And that’s what I mean by both everything and nothing changing all at the same time.
Six years on and I’m still telling people not to settle, still encouraging you to see beyond yourself and trust in the loving God of immeasurably more as you chase after the dreams you’ve long held inside of you with full force. You were made for more.
“For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel…” (Zechariah 4:10a)
Seeing only the beginning of something being built can, in some ways, be a little discouraging, can't it? You’ve got the finish line in mind and you’re ready to step over it, but there’s all this work to be done first! I’ve got three points here, which will help you move beyond the rush and discontentment that place can sometimes hold. I also created a LIVE VIDEO in my Facebook community covering these three points, so head over and watch it there if video’s more your thing…
1. Bloom where you’re planted
Some of you may be familiar with the Parable of the Talents, the fact that the master commended the servant with the two and the five by saying ‘well done good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25 vs 21 & 23)
Maybe right now you feel as though you’ve been set over ‘little’? Perhaps you feel as I did six years ago when I had a message to share with the world and no one to listen?
Bloom! You can make small steps right now towards those bigger dreams. You don’t have to wait until you can see everything. You just need to see far enough to make the very next step. Steward what you’ve been given. If one day you want a business, but right now you’ve got a blog, make that blog the best you can make it and trust God with what’s next.
2. Decide whether you need to prune or uproot
Sometimes we can look at where we are, see that it’s not working and decide that the best thing would be to completely end that and start again. Occasionally, that might be the right move. However, it’s not the only option!
The definition of pruning is: ‘Trim by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems especially to encourage growth.’
Did you catch that? Pruning can actually cause something to grow! This is absolutely the same when it comes to business. Perhaps you need to cut back on the amount of time you’re putting into something you’re not getting any results from? What could you be doing with that time instead to encourage actual growth within your business?
Of course, uprooting is an option too. The definition of uprooting is: ‘To pull something out of the ground or to move from a familiar location.’
Perhaps pruning just won’t cut it with your most recent venture. Maybe it would currently be far more beneficial for you to start again. It’s totally okay for you to admit that but you must have a plan of action in place for the next steps. So, you’re ready to uproot? Where are you being called to replant?
3. Don’t be afraid of growth
Marianne Williamson was famously quoted saying:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us…”
This is so true for so many entrepreneurs. We can look at what would truly be possible if we ran full force after our God-given dreams, and instead of chasing those dreams, we shy away from them.
We’ve got to stop being afraid of growing and changing and becoming more fully who we were born to be. When we ask ourselves things like ‘What will people say?’ and ‘What if I fail?’ we’re doing our dreams a disservice. We’re doing those who are waiting for our work a disservice and we’re doing God a disservice by not walking into what He’s called us to.