“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the LORD of hosts.

After Zerubbabel led the first wave of exiles back from the Babylonian captivity, he was called by God to re-build the temple in Jerusalem. No doubt he regarded this as a difficult assignment. The building project itself was huge, he did not have as many workers as he would have liked, and he faced opposition from the Samaritan people (Nehemiah 4:1-2). Our verse for today is part of a message the prophet Zechariah received from an angel. The message was a word of encouragement for Zerubbabel. However, the angel’s message speaks to anyone with an assignment from the Lord.

First of all, our assignments from the Lord will not be accomplished by human might. Although our assignments may be huge, and we may think we need an army of help, it will take more than an army to get the job done. God whittled Gideon’s army from 32,000 to 300 and still led him to victory over the Midianites.

Secondly, our assignments from the Lord will not be accomplished by human power. Although our assignments may seem overwhelming and we may think we will need to summon great strength and energy, it will take more than human means and agency to accomplish the task. King Saul thought only a trained soldier could beat Goliath, but shepherd boy David, with God’s help, killed him with a sling and a stone.

Finally, our assignments from the Lord will be accomplished by the Spirit of the Lord. We will not need an army to help us and to defend us and we will not need great strength and energy, because the Spirit of the Lord will go to work for us. Just before mighty Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey, the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him to give him success.

Today, therefore, stop trying to muster an army and stop trying to depend on great strength, because the victory does not depend on might and it does not depend upon power. It depends upon the Spirit of the Lord.

By John Huisman, friend of Bible League International