“Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sent me. Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” Zechariah 4:9-10

So this week at OneAccord HQ, we have been hard-at-work, revamping our website. We've gone through variation after variation of designs, layout, images, text copy, you name it, and watched as the new-look site takes shape, section by section. One of the new features we've decided to add is a space to tell our story - the story of how OneAccord started and what brought us to where we are now.

The strange part is that, although many of us had a front-row seat to this story (even before we became staff members), just the act of reminiscing and retelling that story out loud for the first time made us all feel some very real emotions in our team meeting this week. It's tough to find the right word that encapsulates how we felt, both recognizing just how much work each of us had put into the journey so far, and our stunned realization that God had brought us somewhere far beyond what we could have either guessed, planned or earned.

The fact is that where we find ourselves now - a full-fledged company with staff members, supporting over 100 churches globally - is not something we could have foreseen when the company started, just less than two years ago. When OneAccord was just an answer to prayer for a single local church pastored by our founder's parents. When our founder wrote the first line of the code, or her shortlist of names for what to call this software.

In the age where our self-esteem, both individual and corporate, can be built or broken by comparing metrics - views, clicks, sales, likes, conversion rates - it seems almost time-wasting to stop and smell the roses. To celebrate our wins; to look back at the road travelled. To be still and know that He is God.

I'm sure, if you are a church leader reading this, that this is a dilemma all too familiar. Your quiet moments interrupted by questions like "how many members, salvations, baptisms, food drives, cell groups or new locations do we have compared to ....?" The good news is, as reluctant as we all are to admit it, you're not the only one fighting that battle.

This week has been a wake-up call to us that this comparison trap is easy to walk into unawares, especially when you're doing God's work. And yet, it's also been a poignant reminder that, yes, our goals as a company may be far-off in the distance. Yes, we could stop and compare ourselves to others in the field out of either jealousy or arrogance or both. But what remains clear as the midday sun is that where God has brought us thus far, is a pretty breathtaking view worthy of celebrating and praising Him for.

In thinking of a scripture for this blog, of course Zechariah 4:10 came to mind - "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand." The first 6 words of this scripture have been well-worn at this point, but to me, it's made so powerful by the rest of the verse - the idea of the Lord getting joy from simply watching us start something. Zerubabbel hadn't even finished the job yet, God was just happy to see him start measuring - there's no metric that can capture that!

To be honest, none of our team could have known that God would bring us to where we are today. This rings true even for us as individuals. Some of our team were previously stuck in jobs they were praying for a way out of. Others have health conditions that should have taken their lives. And yet, we stand as living billboards declaring the goodness of God, even as works-in-progress.

So here we are, the air tingling with excitement for where God could possibly take us next, and ready to do the work. Our goals are still way off in the horizon, but the difference between right here and back there, where He brought us from? That's our story...and it's yours too.