Think for a moment of some amazing, historical men and women of God.
Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to witness the calling of spiritual giants like Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, George Muller, or Jim and Elizabeth Elliott? To have been present the moment that those individuals responded to the call of Christ in their life and began the journey of immense impact for the Kingdom of God?
If we were to have witnessed first-hand the calling of a missionary pioneer to South Africa who would serve faithfully for over 50 years, it would have looked no different then what we witnessed recently in the Dominican Republic, during a vacation bible school, where numerous children responded to a Gospel presentation.
In Zechariah 4:10 the Lord challenged Zechariah, “Who dares despise the day of small things?”
This short phrase refers to the building of the second temple, which was contemptible to the enemies of Judah, and little in the eyes of many of the Jews themselves, who had seen the former temple built by Solomon, yet not in the eyes of the Lord of hosts.
Fred Barlow writes on wholesomewords.org,
When I think of Robert Moffat, I am rightly reminded of the Scripture in Zechariah 4:10, which
witnesses, “For who hath despised the day of small things?” It seemed a small thing to some godly men in a southern Scotland church when a boy about four years old, from a home of poor but pious parents, knelt at an altar to pray. His decision was despised by the elders as one who was too young to understand. Thank God, one unnamed, unknown-to-us brother bothered to kneel in prayer with “Robbie.” Moffat may well have been converted to Christ then — if not, it was the commencement of a chain of events that led to his conversion and to the opening of doors of evangelism to the uncharted depths of the dark continent of Africa.
While growing up, his mother during the long winter evenings would tell Robert and his siblings of stories of missionaries. In his teens he saw a sign announcing a missionary meeting. Robbie attended and responded to God’s call on his life to become a missionary. He went on to serve the Lord faithfully for 50 years: Laying the foundation of the church in Botswana and Zimbabwe; translating the Bible into foreign languages, a task that in one case took 17 years.
The prime minister of South Africa said of Robert Moffat, “Among missionaries, there was none greater, none holier.”
When on March 20, 1870 he preached his last sermon, most of the congregation were the children of his first church 50 years earlier.
The Lord had graciously allowed him to play a role in generational change for Christ. This is our prayer for the Genesis Program as well, and a good reminder to never “dare despise the day of small things.”
