Can You See the Small Beginnings? - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - June 3, 2025
"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin." Zechariah 4:10 (NLT)
When I was 14, I felt the Lord call me to be an author. At the time, I had no idea how difficult this calling would be to pursue. I loved writing, reading, and spending my free time creating new stories in my head. Most importantly, I knew that I could share the Gospel through my pieces of work.
As I grew older, however, this path to authorship became less and less clear. By the time I got to college, I'd been told that I'd never make it as a writer. I was "good, but not good enough." God had given me this gift, but "lots of good writers existed in the world."
Year after year, professors would ask me what I was majoring in. I would tell them, "English for AYA." "Good," they would reply with a smile. "But I really think you should write professionally," they'd add. "The Lord has given you an incredible gift for words."
"Thank you," I'd respond, shrugging my shoulders and walking away a little less defeated than I was before. Why? Because deep down, I knew they were right. I was pursuing a career that wasn't my calling, and it showed. Especially when I got to student teaching and burst into tears, all I wanted to do was write, but I didn't see how.
With all the strength I could muster, I sold what felt like my soul to teaching and the government. For five years, I taught over 1,500 students English, Advanced English, Creative Writing, Bible classes, Language Arts, you name it. And it wasn't all bad. It was so abundantly clear to me that the Lord had placed me in these private and public school classrooms for a reason. To be a light. To share Jesus. To listen. To hear their stories. To offer a shoulder to cry on. To care.
And yet, I felt deeply unfulfilled. My passion for writing started to wane, and I got lost in the weeds. I was contracted to teach or pay back $25,000. I knew that I had no choice but to put my head down, press on, and do my best in the circumstances I'd been given. But I nearly gave up on my calling. My true calling.
Right before my third year of teaching, I wrote an entire memoir in a little over a week. I went on to prepare a book proposal, one one-sheet, and needed materials for pitching to an agent. But the pitch appointment didn't go as planned. I was left weary, wounded, and defeated. I didn't write for three months and thought I'd heard God wrong.
In a turn of events, God led me to a three-year professional Christian writing program. I was uncertain, but I knew that I had three more years of teaching to go to fulfill my contract. Those three years weren't a coincidence. They are what God used to get me through the last years of teaching.
As I approached my fifth year, I knew that this was it. My workload had been increased, and I was breaking down. But writing and sharing the gospel kept me going. At the end of that year, my husband said it was time to let teaching go and fully pursue what God had called me to all those years ago.
Looking back, I see "small beginnings," like Zechariah 4:10 talks about. I can picture the twinkle in my eye when I wrote my first story. I remember the flak I got from others because my papers were always twice the length of theirs. I will never forget the day I got rejected by that agent, or the day God led me back to her and she offered me a contract on the spot.
Without this growth over time, I'd be tempted to jump to the conclusion. The perfect ending to this story. Me signing a book contract and making the big bucks! But now, I realize that there is preparation in the waiting. There is meaning in the small beginnings and early formations of our stories. And God tells us not to despise them because every moment matters—especially the small and insignificant-seeming ones. No matter how long it takes, in your life and my own, it's how you respond to the journey that matters. It's about the process, and perseverance under pressure matters.
Let's pray:
Dear God, when you call us to something, it can be hard to trust your timing. We often look over the small beginnings as worthless or insignificant. Taking too much time. But Lord, you are never early or late, but right on time. Please help us rest assured that we can trust your timing, no matter what. Help us lean on you when we get tired of waiting. To rest confident in you and your Word, knowing that every minuscule moment plays a role in our lives. You will fulfill the purpose that you have for us! Amen.
Agape, Amber
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/PeopleImages
Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less
If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
