(Read Haggai 1:15b-2:9)
Wow…a moving and a shaken…when our God moves…when our Creator creates…there is a whole lot of shaken going on. Is our God awesome or what? (Glory to God) I can only imagine the scene when God moves in this way. I am sure that during the creation of the world…God spoke…the earth trembled…and came into being.
In the scripture from Haggai…I am sure that the Israelites too were shaken during this part of their history…but shaken in a different way. They were finally able to start rebuilding the temple…but the task…what a task they had. There was the temple of the Lord…laying in ruin…nothing but rubble…sitting on the ground in front of them. How were they going to take on this task?
I am sure that there were many people in the remnant that remembered the temple the way it was. They probably had some wonderful times there and remember it in its grandeur (This had been Solomon’s temple after all…can you imagine how it looked in its day?). There also must have been some of the “old timers” that remembered how the temple was and now…here was this new building being built and…it wasn’t the same. Now…as they looked upon the rubble of the temple…they became discouraged…all those memories…lying in ruin. They must have been shaken to their…very…core.
I am sure that many of us today can relate to …empathize with…these remnant people of God. That phone call in the middle of the night…the telegram we receive from a relative…that test result we were expecting. All these things…and many more…can shake us to our very core. We look at the rubble of our lives and we too wonder how can we go on? We remember how it used to be but cannot have the past back…we must press on.
Not just the personal things in our lives can cause us to shake. How many of you like to read the news paper or watch the news on TV? I know with me…I am not happy with all that I see and hear. There is death and destruction all around us. There are wars, abuse, slavery and the like in the world and truthfully church…it shakes me to my very core. I think to myself…how can something that God meant to be beautiful turn so ugly? The problem is so wide spread how can it ever change? How can we…as Christians…take courage in this day and age? When I begin to ask these questions to myself…there is one piece of scripture that stands out in my mind that gives me hope. It is found in Jeremiah 29 vs. 11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God is in control…even when we don’t see it. He is working out His plan…even if we don’t understand it.
The next thing that God says…through Haggai… is a message of hope for Israel…as well as for us today. God tells the people to take courage…work…for I am with you…for I…am…with…you…according to the promise that I made when you came out of Egypt. What hope that must have given them…the Lord their God was with them…and the Lord keeps His promises! What hope it gives us today when we stand before our temples in ruin? We can take hope for the Lord is with us… always. Not only did the Lord promise to be with them…He went further to bring them hope. God tells the people…His chosen ones…that “My spirit abides among you; do not be afraid”…do…not…be…afraid! How much hope that must have given the Israelites. Their God…Yahweh…was abiding among them and they had no reason to fear….this still holds true for us today. Our God…our creator…our sustainer is with us…He knows our fears, our anxieties, our hopes, our desires and He will see us through…and lead us into the new place He has for us.
I know of a woman who had a “shaken but not stirred incident in her life. She has been an inspiration for me most of my life. She was diagnosed with breast cancer about 4 years back. Her life went into a tail spin; she was shaken to her very core. She had the standard questions for God that all of us would have when something like this happens in our lives. Why me God? I have been a good person…why are you doing this to me? What have I done to deserve this? But through this all she kept telling me…it will be alright…God has a reason for everything…I don’t understand the reason but I know He has a good one. As I saw her go through this phase in her life…I never saw her stop praying and relying on God for strength. Then when they told her she was going to have to have her breast removed I thought for sure this as going to be the end…she was going to turn from God. But even though this…she kept saying there was a reason for this and never turned away. She was shaken…but… not… stirred. She has been cancer free for a little over 3 years now and she did get to see how God can use a bad situation for good. Last summer her daughter had her own cancer scare…she too, like her mother, was shaken but not stirred…but she was able to be there for her daughter and give her strength. She was able to truly empathize with her daughter and help her through her trying time. Her daughter did not have cancer in the end but her daughter will never forget the strength she saw in her mother during that time.
We are God’s children and “Dad” tells us not to fear…He is with us. God is not like our earthly dad’s…who from time to time may disappoint us…God is he dad we have always dreamed of…He is “super-dad”. Like many fathers, He is there for us through thick or thin. He wants fix the problem, like a lot of dads, if we will just let Him work out His plan. Unfortunately…things have to be completely taken down…changed…in order for it to be built up by the Lord. Better than it was before.
We are the children of God. In 2 Thessalonians 2…Paul is talking to the people in Thessalonica…in vs. 13b…Paul states that “from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth”…this stands for us today also. We...as Christians…are the chosen ones. God chose us! What a concept! We were loved into existence by God! For God so loved…loved…the world…that He gave His only…His ONLY…begotten Son. We are Loved…we are loved with an agape love…a never ending love…we…are…loved! We are so loved that God lovingly…tenderly…breathed the breath of life into us. Nothing other than His Word did His breathe life into. We were loved into existence.
In my seminary studies this fall I learned a new word that just blows me away. I learned it in my Hebrew Bible class. The word is “rauh”…it means the breath of God…the spirit of God! Even the word itself sounds like a breath…rauh! We have God’s breath…a piece of God…within us. Wow…how awesome is that?!
How can we find our strength to go on in this fallen world we live in? Where does our peace and assurance come from? In Ephesians we are given a glimpse of where we can find peace and stability in these troubled times. In Chapter 2 vs. 14a Paul states that “He himself is our peace.” And again in vs. 17 Paul states that “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” It is through the blood of our Risen Lord Jesus Christ that we find our peace and stability…through the Blood of the Lamb that we are able to stand firm in this day and age. John 3:16b tells us that we are saved by the blood of Christ…that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. We are adopted into the family by God through Jesus. We can stand firm and hold fast to what we know to be true. God is ALWAYS with us and is in CONTROL!
We live in a fallen world. There is so much around us that makes us loose heart sometimes. We see all of the evil things of the world and at times it may look like evil will prevail. But fear not says the Lord. I am with you always and I am working out my plan. When things look dim…we need to look at the big picture instead of the small one in front of us. We need to try and look at a situation…the world…through God’s eyes. He has promised that He has a plan for our lives. God is in control and has his hand in everything that is going on. Let us not lose faith and be dismayed. It’s ok to be shaken but let us not be stirred from our sure foundation found in the Word of God and His son Lord Jesus Christ. Let us rebuild the temple of God by the new blueprint that He has given us not by the old one that came tumbling down.
AMEN
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