Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. Our Reading titled Small but Great was written by Patricia Raven.

Will I make the Olympics? The college swimmer worried her speed was too slow.

But when math professor Ken Ono studied her swim techniques,

he saw how to improve her time by six full seconds,

a substantial difference at that level of competition.

Attaching sensors to the swimmer's back,

he didn't identify major changes to improve her time. Instead, Ono identified tiny corrective actions that, if applied, could make the swimmer more efficient in the water, making the winning difference.

Small corrective actions in spiritual matters can make a big difference for us, too.

The prophet Zechariah taught a similar principle to a remnant of discouraged Jews,

struggling, along with their builders are rubble, to rebuild God's temple after their exile.

But not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, the Lord Almighty, told Zerubbable.

As Zechariah declared, who dares despise the day of small things?

The exiles had worried that the temple wouldn't match the one built under King Solomon's reign.

But just as Ono swimmer made the Olympics, winning a medal after surrendering to small corrections,

Zerubbables' band of builders learned that even a small, right effort made with God's help

can bring victorious joy if our small acts glorify him.

In God, small becomes great.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Zechariah chapter 4, verses 4 through 10.

I asked the angel who talked with me, what are these, my lord? He answered, do you not know what these are? No, my lord, I replied. So he said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubabobo, not by might,

nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty.

What are you, Mighty Mountain? Before Zerubable, you will become level ground. Then he will

bring out the capstone to shouts of God bless it, God bless it. Then the word of the Lord came to me. The hands of Zerubbable have laid the

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