Do you ever feel frustrated when a project takes you longer to complete than you anticipated? Or when the outcome feels small compared to all you want to achieve? This often happens to me. I finish up a project only to minimize the accomplishment in my mind. When I suffer from comparisonitis, I feel worse. Remember Veruca Salt from Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? She’s the one who screamed, “I want it now, Daddy! I want it now!”
I do, too, Veruca! I want all my unfinished writing projects completed now! I want to hold a tower of my books in my hands now! Not this puny little devotional I just finished!
When these feelings of frustration come over my meager beginnings, I remember the scripture verse, “Don’t despise these small beginnings.” These words were given as an encouragement to the Jewish people as they were rebuilding the temple. Rebuilding the temple, over 2500 years ago, must have been a monumental task. The people may have felt overwhelmed and frustrated over how long it would take and God knew they would need these words of encouragement.
As I work to build my book business, I feel overwhelmed, too. But when I do, I make this my mantra: Don’t despise these small beginnings. The work has begun.
Today I held in my hands the proof copy of my poetry devotional, Invitations. I finished the manuscript a little while ago. But then there was cover creation, interior formatting, ISBN assignments, and so on. The list of things to do is getting shorter, but still significant. And then there’s the work of finding an audience for the book.
I’m anxious to get started on my next project, which is still to be determined, but I need to finish this first. I imagine the temple builders felt similarly. “Oh, how I wish we were placing the lampstands instead of laying these bricks. Can’t this work go any faster?”
I want things to go faster, too. I want it now, Daddy! But God reminds me, “Don’t despise these small beginnings. The work has begun.”
