IN THE SMALL THINGS
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit of God, hear me as I pray. Take my faltering words and turn them into songs of praise to You.
Read Haggai 2:1–9
1 on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak,[a] the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, 3 ‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Footnotes
- Haggai 2:2 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak; also in verse 4
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Can you think of an unimpressive ministry in which you are involved? Maybe in your church or a Sunday school class, or perhaps your own efforts as a parent. Does God care about the small things?When the Temple foundation was rebuilt after the exile, everyone was stirred. Some were amazed, but others wept; perhaps because what was before them seemed pathetic compared to the glory of the old Temple they remembered from before (see Ezra 3:10–13). God knows about small ministries. And here, as the rebuilding project progressed, God gave them present encouragement and future hope. The present encouragement? Verse 4, ‘… work. For I am with you …’ And the future hope? God’s plans for the future put past glories in the shade (vs 6–9).
As we serve in small and unimpressive ways, God is with us. And what about the unimpressive little church that we invest our energies in week by week? The glorious bride of Christ in the future will honor him beyond all that we can currently imagine. God’s history then was moving toward Christ, and his history today is moving toward Christ. So? So, the small stuff matters.
Apply
Think about a ministry in which you are involved, either formal or informal. God is with you in it, and his plan surpasses anything remembered or imagined! Praise God for that!
Closing prayer
Dear Lord, I know discouragement is one of Satan’s most powerful weapons against me, Your child. I put on the shield of faith so I can deflect those fiery darts of discouragement.
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