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REFLECTION

To be told take courage means the task one is under taking looks unsurmountable and scurry, and to be told not to fear implies what one is going through or about to got through is fearful. That is  why knowing that God is with us and depending on His endless power is the only way  we can overcome our daily challenges. Hearing this still voice “take courage, do not fear” is all one needs to be victorious.

The divine communication from Haggai was primarily directed to Zerubbabel; the governor, Joshua; the high priest (Hag. 1:1) and the remnant of the people (Hag.1:12) for them to brace themselves up for the task ahead (the building of the second temple) . It is clear that rebuilding a magnificent temple built by Solomon and destroyed by allied forces looked impossible to a population whose majority have only head of the splendor of the first temple. Friends in the Lord, the demeanor of the people point us to one thing: it takes courage, trust and faith in the Lord to rebuild a crushed life from ground zero.  The prophetic word from Haggai was the game changer: if the faithful God who stood with our Fathers is with us, then it can be done.

Beloved, the statement “….take courage… says the Lord;  work, for I am with you ……………..Egypt”(Hag.2:4 NRSV) was used by Haggai to compare the spirit of God in the midst of the people in his days to how it was during the days of the Exodus, awakening them to the fact that the  glorious presence of God that parted the sea in the past, can do it now if they trust in Him. Haggai can be said to be saying to them and to you and I today that to have the Lord on our side constitutes the greatest strength for any endevour. For it is not in the might of humankind but God’s power that God’s work is done and the Lord’s battles are won (Zech.4:6).

How can God’s work fail when He the Lord of Hosts not only gives the directives but also supplies the dynamics? If He the Lord is in it, why do we fear?  God’s presence is the greatest dispeller of all fears (Isa.41:10, 13; Zech.8:13) and His presence is sure as long we are in ‘my Father’s business.’ To fear is to say that I am sure the God almighty can do it, whilst there is nothing to difficult for Him. Beloved ‘.. a little while…’ in Haggai 2:6 intimates that the fulfillment may not be at once, but it will come to pass in the ordering of Him with whom ‘a thousand years [are] as one day’ (2Pet.3:8) that is why we must be courageous and wait.

Beloved, the proclamation ‘..I will shake the heavens …. earth ….. sea…… dry land…..all nation’ are as relevant to us today as it was in the days of the prophesy. Our earth is till been shaken every single  day by diseases, storms, hunger and the likes. The sea level is rising due to global warming and it is taking over the dry land. Pandemics are crushing systems and economics. Thrones are brought to nothing. In all these chaos,  the presence of God can protect us. Until we build on and with God and Our Lord Christ Jesus, we will fall. No one is saved until he/she is saved in Christ. The four times repeated clause ‘I will shake……I will overthrow…..I will destroy …..I will overthrow’ graphically portrays the Messiah in the Day of the Lord (Joel 1:15;2:1; Rev. 8:1-20:3) as He comes in His glory. Jesus will come again, we must not live in despair, He is our hope all hopelessness.  

CONCLUSION

God is faithful, if He is with us, we need not fear but to face every challenge with courage knowing that with Him, all things are possible. With His presence, we will have ‘peace’ in its fullest connotation signifying total spiritual, mental and physical well-being.Amen.

PRAYER

Oh God almighty, grant us the needed grace to be courageous to face our daily challenges without fear, even in these perilous time .Amen.