God Will Make a Way
May all of us who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be delivered from the present delights and the future afflictions of the evil one by participating in the reality of the blessings held in store and already revealed to us in Christ our Lord himself, who alone with the Father and the Holy Spirit is praised by all Creation. Amen.[1] (Maximus the Confessor)
Haggai 2:1-9 NRSV
In the second year of King Darius, in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. For thus, says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.
Warren Wiersbe
Of course, the plight of the people was due to their sins, but this was still no reason for looking back. In God’s work, we must look ahead in faith. “Be strong and fear not!” God said to the discouraged leaders. “I am going to shake this world and one day establish my kingdom.” See Heb. 12:26–29. God promises that the glory of the latter house (the temple during the millennial kingdom) will far exceed the glory of the former house (Solomon’s temple). “And there I will give peace.” The best is yet to come.[2]
TAKE COURAGE, ALL YOU PEOPLE
(Hymn Tune: Go, Tell It On the Mountain)
Take courage, all you people,
Children of promise, people of God!
Fear not, for God is shaking
The whole wide world for good!
God’s remnant was despondent
And devastated sore;
Their land was brought to nothing,
In ruins to the core.
God had his priests remember
How faithful he had been
To bring them out of Egypt
Into the promised land.
God said, “Do not be fearful,
No matter what you see,
For I still live among you!
For I am still your King!”
Although it seems that smallness
And weakness is our lot,
The Lord of Hosts is with us,
The One who faileth not.
Because of the work You, my Great Shepherd, have accomplished for me, I know that You want to equip me with all that I need for my ministry. You are for me, so who can be against me? You did not spare Your own Son, but gave Him up for me, so How could I doubt that you will not also graciously give me all that I need? Right now, it’s hard for me to see the coming harvest. It appears that the fig tree isn’t budding and there are no grapes on the vines; the olive crop appears to fail; the fields aren’t producing the food I expected; and there aren’t the numbers of sheep and cattle in the pen as I would have liked. Yet, I will choose to be joyful in You, my Savior! Amen.[3]
God Will Make a Way
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] Ancient Christian Devotional Year C, p. 259.
[2] Warren W. Wiersbe, Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the Old Testament (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1993), Hag 2:1–9.
[3] A prayer by Craig T. Owens – “When feeling overwhelmed” – from Amen Indeed: Prayers for Pastoral Effectiveness, © 2025 by Craig T. Owens, pp. 19-20.
