The Power of Small Beginnings

Good morning, my friend. I hope you're doing well. Dr. Lee Warren here with.

You, and we're going to do a little self-brain surgery today. I have one little idea.

I'm going to bring you back something old, because it's Wild Card Wednesday,

and we have a brand new Theology Thursday episode coming for you tomorrow.

So today, I just was not going to release anything today, because I wanted you

to focus on the two episodes we've already released this week.

But something's been nagging at me. we had a conversation with Lisa,

and we've been talking about, we did New Thing November, and we're trying to

cast off everything that's holding us back, and trying to get ready for the

year of the Lord's favor,

and get rid of anything that's messing with our ability to move forward in our

lives, and sometimes that includes suffering and grief, and things that are

holding us back from the past, and especially if you, like us,

have gone through some kind of major trauma or tragedy,

there may be some problem that you're having this time of year around the holidays,

where you just can't stop going back and revisiting those

memories and and sort of dragging yourself back

into the past and and that sort of past focus

can hinder you now because you've got people and

and situations in your life now that needs your presence they need your presence

and if you're always back if you're always somewhere in the past if your cingulate

gyrus has got you stuck and you can't shift forward and and move forward then

then you aren't honoring the person you lost,

you aren't honoring the memory of the past, you're just ruminating,

but you're also harming yourself in the present, it's time to shift and start to move forward.

And how do we do that? We're gonna talk about that and we've talked about it

recently, we're gonna talk about it again tomorrow a little bit on Theology

Thursday, this suffering substitution operation that I've been having to apply

to myself because I've been grieving afresh lately, as I told you,

like it just happened, like we just lost our son even Even though it's been 10 years,

it's been heavy on me in the last few days.

So today we're going to take a quick look at Zechariah 4.10 and we're going

to remember that you don't have to have it perfect before God blesses you.

You just have to be willing to start. The scripture from Zechariah 4.10,

the Lord does not despise small beginnings.

He rejoices to see you pick up the hammer.

Today we're going to go back in time and listen to an episode called Small Beginnings.

I just want to tee that up so we can talk tomorrow about the suffering substitution operation.

It's gonna help you, I promise. It's gonna help you become healthier and feel better and be happier.

And all you have to be willing to do, my friend, is start today.

Hey, listen, we're gonna talk today, just for a few minutes,

about the power of getting started.

Picking up the hammer and getting after the work. If you've never read John

Swanson's book, A Great Work, it's about Nehemiah and the story of rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem.

It's a great book, a fictional almost conversation that he had with Nehemiah over a cup of coffee.

And it's It's just great how John did it. Love John Swanson's work.

I'll put a link in the show notes to this book.

But for today, I just want you to know, even if you haven't gotten started, that today's a new day.

It's time to pick up the hammer and get after it. And whatever God's called

you to today, he's got a plan and a purpose that's for your benefit.

And he rejoices when you get started. So forget about what happened before.

Pick up the hammer and get after it. And the good news is you can start today.

Hey, are you ready to change your life?

If the answer is yes, there's only one rule. You have to change your mind first.

And my friend, there's a place for the neuroscience of how your mind works,

smashes together with faith and everything starts to make sense.

Are you ready to change your life?

Well, this is the place, Self Brain Surgery School.

I'm Dr. Lee Warren and this is where we go deep into how we're wired,

take control of our thinking and find real hope.

This is where we learn to become healthier, feel better and be happier.

This is where we leave the past behind and transform our minds.

This is where we start today. Are you ready?

This is your podcast. This is your place. This is your time,

my friend. Let's get after it.

Music.

To have a quiet time, thought this morning. I was reading in Zechariah.

Zechariah 4.10 says this.

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work

begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand.

He's talking about the wall project that was rebuilding the wall around the city.

And it's a daunting task. It's a huge amount of work that needs to be done.

And it was discouraging to them to even think about getting started.

And God's saying, hey, you don't have to do the whole thing today.

You don't have to eat this whole elephant. You don't have to get this whole

thing done. It's not overwhelming. Just pick the hammer up.

Pick up the plumb line and get after it. I love small beginnings.

I love to see the work begin.

I was just thinking about that in the context of here we are at the end of all in August.

We know that many people are trying to shake things off and restart and reset

and reframe and they find themselves frustrated and people are getting things

underway and they feel like it's a daunting task to get something changed or

make their life what they need it to be.

And they feel frustrated and they wanna give up. And God would say, here, don't give up.

Even if all in August hasn't been all that you thought it would be,

even if you've tried and failed or started and stopped and your progress is

in little fits and starts, just pick a hammer up. Just get the slide rule out again.

Just give it a shot and get after it because God rejoices when we start, when we start today.

He loves it. There's an old bluegrass song called Working on a Building.

Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys popularized it, but it was a spiritual before that.

I have no idea who wrote it, but Patti Love listed a version on working on a building.

And it's just this idea that our life is about building something for God.

This idea of not, we're saved by grace, but our works, the things that we do

with our lives tell a story, and they build something that's helpful to the

kingdom and help other people to see God more clearly. and we leave behind a

legacy of the things that we've done, right?

So, the idea is just work on building. Pick up the hammer and get after it.

It's okay. The Lord rejoices to see the work begin.

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work

begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hands, Zechariah 4.10.

He doesn't say, I'm only going to be happy if you get this thing done perfectly

by the end of the month. He just says, I just want to see it start.

I just want to see it start today. I'm praying for you, I love you, w1md.com slash prayer.

I'm gonna spend some time in prayer and worship now. I think you should too.

And I hope that you have some time to reflect and think about this,

but I just wanted to give you this thought for a day.

Don't beat yourself up if you're having trouble getting started.

Because God loves when you just start. He loves the small beginnings.

Do not despise the small beginnings. For the Lord rejoices to see the work begin,

to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel's hand.

Here's Patti Lovelace with working on a building And all you have to do my friend is start today.

Music.

Hey, thanks for listening. The Dr. Lee Warren podcast is brought to you by my

brand new book, Hope is the First Dose.

It's a treatment plan for recovering from trauma, tragedy, and other massive things.

It's available everywhere books are sold, and I narrated the audio books.

Hey, the theme music for the show is Get Up by my friend Tommy Walker,

available for free at TommyWalkerMinistries.org.

They are supplying worship resources for worshipers all over the world to worship

the most high God. and if you're interested in learning more,

check out TommyWalkerMinistries.org.

If you need prayer, go to the prayer wall at WLeeWarrenMD.com slash prayer,

WLeeWarrenMD.com slash prayer, and go to my website and sign up for the newsletter,

Self Brain Surgery, every Sunday since 2014, helping people in all 50 states

and 60-plus countries around the world.

I'm Dr. Lee Warren, and I'll talk to you soon. Remember, friend,

you can't change your life until you change your mind, And the good news is you can start today.

Music.