Wednesday, March 24, 2021

So...Do Not Be Afraid

 

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Then on October 17 of that same year, the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai.  “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people there in the land:  ‘Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor?  How, in comparison, does it look to you now?  It must seem like nothing at all!  But now the Lord says:  Be strong, Zerubbabel.  Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest.  Be strong, all you people still left in the land.  And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt.  So do not be afraid.’  “For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:  In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land.  I will shake all the nations, and the treasures of all the nations will be brought to this Temple.  I will fill this place with glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  And in this place I will bring peace.  I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”            Haggai 2:1-9

The  question I most hear these days, in a never-ending chorus of mixed anguish and fear, is:  When will we ever get back to normal?

In the days of Haggai the prophet, the question was about how things had come unglued in Jerusalem.  The Temple, symbol of God’s presence with Israel, had been sacked, looted, and destroyed.  Does anyone remember how glorious this place used to be?  That was the question of the day…that day…and it is ours today. 

Many people look at our world and mourn the loss of greater days, greater freedom and a sense of well-being.  Today it’s not the same; it’s not normal.

After a year of quarantine-filled COVID news, rising death tolls, and political wrangling, fear is as intensified as I’ve ever seen it.  I recall school days of the 1950’s at the apex of nuclear bomb fears, sirens, and daily drills at school, having to scramble under my little wooden desk; they called it a Cold War, but the fear of having a few megatons of explosive dropped on your head from the sky was anything but cold…the fear was palpable, nearly hot to the soul, unrelenting, and ready to unsettle any thought of the future being bright (other than the initial flash, followed by a mushroom cloud filled with radiation).

To a Cold War world like my childhood, and a COVID-19 world for that of my great-grandchildren, along with the devastating ruins of life in Haggai’s day, the word of the Lord still rings:  Do not be afraid…in this place I will bring peace.

It’s somewhat hard to reconcile that faith-statement with the subsequent story of Israel, over 2,500 years of rebuilding, destruction, wandering, and, of late, holocaust.  It has been anything but a road of peace for God’s special people.  However, if God can be trusted, faith informs us that the final chapter has yet to be opened.  All that we see, hear, and, yes even fear, is still prologue and preparation for the final act.

Part of Haggai’s message to the governor, Zerubbabel is to be strong and get to work (on rebuilding the temple), because God’s Spirit was still with them.  In other words, despite the conditions of bondage and lasting hurt of what those conditions had done to soil life’s hopes, it was time to move-on, build-up, and get back to the purpose for which God had called Abraham a thousand years before. 

And that message is just as vital for we, who live in this day of cold and hot wars, oppression, unrest, mass violence events, and disease. 

God still says do not be afraid!

For You Today

As you progress through this day, take stock of what blessing God has showered on your life to see prophecy coming alive.  It’s more than wars and rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, plague, and other COVID-ish monsters.  Christ is preparing us for life in the fast-lane of faith.

So…do not be afraid.  Keep looking up!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com    Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

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