Zechariah 4:6

So Zerubbabel was taught that the time had not yet come for Jehovah to display His might or power for His people. It was a time of feebleness instead. But God's Spirit was working to secure all that His name and interests required, both in the hearts of the people and in their service. So the moment called for dependence upon God and confidence in Him. Zerubbabel needed this lesson in his trying position — a position made harder by his own fears. It is easy enough, even for the natural man, to take up the outward service of God when He steps in with power to sustain His servants and secure the result. But only the man of faith can labour on in the face of every kind of discouragement.

The meaning of the vision pointed to the Holy Spirit as the only power for witness and work for God. A feeble remnant had returned from captivity in Babylon to build the temple. They cared about the worship of Jehovah, so the first thing they did was set the altar on its bases (Ezra 3:3). They put first things first.

God is now working in the church by His Spirit. The Spirit of God works in a way that men cannot understand. That is to say, the Spirit of God works secretly, quietly, without noise.

More than this: "He shall bring forth the capstone, with shouts of Grace, grace, to it." The capstone, or topstone, of the building (the temple) means it is finished. Just as Christ is the foundation of the building, so also is He the full completion of it. Grace will also stand out, in contrast to "might" and "power." Grace will draw forth shouts of rejoicing on the part of the people.

It was only a day of small things now. But the man who despised it would not be in agreement with Jehovah of hosts when the fulfilment came… The day when God is morally testing souls is always a day of small things. It is open to the scorn of the man whose heart is not content to serve God. Those whose delight is in God's will and work in the day of small things are in communion with Himself.

It takes us a long time to learn that there is no power except in the Lord. In the Lord's work, human energy, will, or perseverance not only count for nothing — they are real barriers in the way of divine strength… So when we are weak we are strong. In the sense of our complete weakness we come to depend on the Lord, and He can then display His own power in and through us without hindrance.

If faith goes first, then energy that comes from faith can follow after. God is in the scene, and resurrection from the dead is recognised as a principle. But if energy gets ahead of faith, it is drawn from within us, and it brings with it nature and the world and the flesh. Flesh cannot rebuke and put down flesh, as some think; and if it is tried, flesh is drawn out against flesh. Better to have hard cases in God's hand than easy ones in our own.