Inside Out Living

We are all familiar with the concept of a doomsday prophet, who attempts to strike fear in the hearts of people to bring about repentance today. I remember first seeing them as a child in such movies as Ghostbusters and Superman.

Well today I want you to consider the possibility that courage is also an appropriate response to the coming events in the Day of the Lord. How is it that a description of those events can be an encouragement to us? It is only because of the victory that we have in Jesus.

Zechariah 14:9 says, “And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day there will be one Lord—his name alone will be worshiped.” Wow! Now that is something to get excited about. What an encouraging picture. The Lord reigning on earth and He will be the only one receiving praise and worship from His creation. I don’t know about you but that seems far more encouraging to me than the political corruption and idolatry that I see in the world today.

Support and encouragement can come from many different sources and sometimes it can be a little surprising to us. I would imagine that God’s people experienced some anxiety and discouragement when the governors of neighboring provinces began to investigate the work they were doing on the temple. There was no guarantee that Darius would honor the edict of the Babylonian King Cyrus who had gone before him.
However God saw it fit to encourage his people by showing that King Darius fully supported them and included instruction for the governors in the area to support the effort.

It can be very encouraging when our efforts are validated by those who are in authority over us. I am sure that you have experienced this kind of encouragement from parents, teachers, or bosses in your life. So the question is, when was the last time you encouraged someone who has to answer to you?

May you be a surprising source of encouragement for someone today.

I don’t know what it is about human nature that makes us nostalgic. I have observed that in just about every area of life there is something about ‘how it used to be’ that we view as better. And as we read in Haggai this can be a discouragement to us in the present.

As the people began to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, they soon realized that it would not be nearly as impressive as the temple Solomon built. Instead of disregarding that fact, the Lord acknowledged it (Hag. 2:2-3) and then encouraged the people to press on in spite of that fact (2:4-5). His message was, that regardless of how less impressive of a building it was, the people were to continue on in the building of it.

No matter what task God has given you to do, whether it is business, ministry, family, whatever it is, you are to take courage and do it regardless of how much better or more successful the past may have been.

May you take courage and fulfill your tasks, know that God is with you.