For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth. ~Zachariah 4:10

Go back, just for a moment, and remember.  There have been days when you thought you would not survive. You wondered if you could continue on.  Some days you felt as if you failed.  Your dreams shattered.  Your future unsure, you wondered why go on?  Do you remember those dark nights, Beloved? 

Look at you now.  You did not give up.  You did not give in.  You moved forward by inches at a time.  Now, you are standing once again.  You may not be where you thought you would be before life knocked you down, but you are moving.  I know there are days where it is slow going.  Days you feel as if life is a waste of your time.  But you have made it through all of those days, have you not? 

I can look back and I can see your dark nights of the soul.  I know the desperate places in which you have been.  I heard, every time you cried out.  I was there, in the midst, with you.  Don’t forget that.  You have every reason to celebrate your past difficulties because you made it through.  Make a memorial in your heart of what I have done.  Share the rescue with your children.  Tell the story to your friends.  

It is the stories which testify.  Your testimony is powerful.  It lifts others up.  To tell the story, you must be able to look back and see My hand at work.  Even in the hard things.  Even in the dark places.  Do not despise your road.  It is where all the growth happens.  Like a seed in the ground appears to die before it is broken open to sprout new life, you have gone to the place of death and lived.  You have been covered in the dark, but you have germinated there.  Your shell has been broken into pieces which have nourished your spirit.  Now you are sprouting new life, and reaching towards the light.