📊 Zechariah 4:6 | Eternal Light

together with Soul Care

Happy Tuesday, {{first_name| everyone}}!

If you missed yesterday’s introduction to Zechariah, you can find it here.

Today we’re spending time looking at Zechariah’s vision and what it teaches us about staying the course in faith.

In today’s email…

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Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ___ __ _____, nor by _____, but by my _____, says the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 4:6

How is my soul actually doing right now?

If you’re like me, you might not even know where to start to be able to answer that question. Fortunately, our friends at Soul Care (seriously, we’re friends with them) created a free Soul Health Assessment.

I just took it last week and it was seamless. Here’s how it works:

It’s easy to be faithful with reading Scripture, but still feel quietly tired inside. Soul care isn’t about doing more. It’s about understanding what’s happening beneath the surface and responding with wisdom.

Join me and start your new year by getting a pulse on your soul’s health.

Yesterday we looked at the big-picture story of Zechariah — a weary people trying to rebuild after exile in Babylon, and a God who meets them with promise.

Today, let’s look at chapter 4, the setting of our verse.

Zechariah’s fourth and fifth visions (chapters 3 and 4) form the heart of the book. They focus on two leaders God has raised up for this fragile moment:

Together, these men represent both the spiritual and civil leadership of God’s people as they return home. They are ordinary men with overwhelming tasks.

In chapter 3, Joshua stands clothed in filthy garments which was a symbol of Israel’s sin, failure, and shame. God removes the filthy clothes and gives him clean robes, promising that restoration will not begin with human righteousness but with divine mercy.

Then comes chapter 4.

Zechariah sees a golden lamp stand, constantly supplied with oil from two olive trees. It is a picture of God’s unending presence and provision — a light that does not run out.

The angel explains that this vision is a message for Zerubbabel, who has begun rebuilding the temple but has grown discouraged by delay, opposition, and exhaustion from the work.

This is the moment when God speaks our memory verse:

The meaning becomes clear inside this chapter — “might” refers to human strength in numbers and “power” is referring to human ability. But “my Spirit” is talking about God’s active presence doing what human strength cannot.

In other words, Zerubbabel and the people will finish the rebuilding the temple, but not because he (or anyone) is strong. He will finish because God is faithful.

God even says that the great mountain of obstacles in front of him will become a level plain through divine help (Zechariah 4:7).

This is what chapter 4 wants us to see: Every work God begins in us, God intends to finish and He finishes it through His Spirit.

That is good news for anyone beginning again, anyone rebuilding, anyone starting a new habit or a new year with a quiet hope that God can still make something beautiful out of tired hands.

I (Payton) am training for a marathon in April, which sounds far more heroic than it actually feels. Most days, training looks less like triumph and more like questioning every life choice that led me to this moment. There’s a special kind of humility in realizing you are out of breath before you reach mile 2.

Some mornings I head out the door feeling like Zerubbabel facing a mountain.
Other mornings, the mountain feels more like a small hill…and I still feel like I’m losing. But I’m realizing that a body gets stronger the same way a soul does: one faithful, imperfect practice at a time.

You might want a habit, a change, or a new beginning to take shape this year.

But God doesn't need your might or your power. He simply needs your willingness to show up — weak, uncertain, out of breath — and let His Spirit do what only His Spirit can do.

I can’t train for a marathon in one day. The people of Judah couldn’t rebuild the temple in a day. And you can’t form a new habit in one day.

But you can do something small today that moves you one inch closer to who God is forming you to be:

🙏 Pray

Father, thank You that You meet me in the place between where I am and where I hope to be. You see the mountains that feel too big, the habits that feel too small, and the progress that feels too slow. Give me the courage to take the next faithful step and the humility to rely on Your Spirit for what I cannot do on my own. Amen.

Click one of the answers below. Let’s see how you do…

Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 4:6