Scripture: Haggai 2:1–9
All of us hit a point in our lives when we feel like we have hit rock bottom. Nothing seems to be going right. Compared to the way things were in the past, everything is now a complete disaster. The future appears so cloudy and distorted by our present that it has become something we dread. We are down so low in a valley that we can no longer make out the mountaintop, and our insecurity makes us feel trapped at the bottom. From our unfortunate vantage point, we are unable to see a way out, and we often feel alone.
But God is larger than any situation we are currently in and any past we have experienced. And God has not forgotten our situation; God will keep his promise to us that we are not to fear because God’s Spirit will always remain with us.
It is easy for us to become so wrapped up in the present’s ugliness and disorder that we forget there is another side of the mountain and another future.
We need to remember that God is coming to restore what is broken and to bring his people to him. God promises not only to come again, but to create a new kingdom and bring peace.
Prayer
Lord, help us to understand that you are still with us down in life’s valleys. Give us the patience and wisdom to trust the promise of your coming so that it becomes the hope we have for a new world. Amen.
Courtney Payne, class of 2011,
St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
Order Proclaiming the Good News of God's Peace.