Take Courage

Press the play button to watch the video above or press 'more' to read the transcript of the daily devotion below. Please read Haggai 2:1-9 (use your own Bible or use the link above to access the in-App Bible).

Three times in just this one verse the Lord, through His prophet Haggai says ‘take courage’. He is speaking to Zerubbabel, the Jewish leader, descendent of King David, Joshua the high priest, and the people of Israel who have returned from exile. The people are re-building the destroyed Temple so that worship can resume and Israel’s relationship with God restored. However, for the older generation, who had known the splendour of the original Solomon’s Temple, discouragement had set in because this ‘new’ Temple could not match the glory of the former one. The reality of the situation was falling short of their expectations; the people were deflated and demoralised.

And yet, this is a message of hope and encouragement in those tough times of discouragement, for the people of Israel then, and for us now, when we too face such disappointments and difficult times. How often I wonder do we ‘hanker’ after the past, the ‘what has been’ and the former glories? Do we mumble under our breath, ‘well it was better before…’ or ‘I remember when…’ or make unhealthy comparisons with what has been? This could be on a personal level, or we could be talking about the Church, or a wishful thinking rose-tinted view of the past.

But this is where we need to hear the words and believe the promises of God. God speaks to us in the words ‘take courage’… ‘the latter splendour of this house will be greater than the former’ (v.9). In other words, things not only can get better, but the future glory lies in the person of Jesus Christ whom we watch for and wait for in Advent, meaning we too can ‘take courage’, and believe God is fulfilling His purposes and keeping His promises.

There is now no longer the need for rebuilding a new Temple of bricks and mortar because as Christians, the Holy Spirit, the very presence of God, now lives in us, we become the temple of the Holy Spirit because Jesus, Son of God, is Emmanuel, ‘God with Us’.