 |
Friday, September 23, 2005 Meditation Haggai 2:1-9 When depression hits, it’s easy to believe we are powerless. We’ve fallen too far behind in our work and can never catch up. We’ve tried to reach out to an alienated relative before and been rebuffed. We’ve been hurt so many times, it’s reasonable to think things will never change. We look back nostalgically to a time when we had more energy and our dreams seemed within reach; and we know we’ll never get back there. God sent the prophet Haggai to a people in the grip of depression. The Persian king had allowed them to return from exile to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, but the work was painfully slow. They had run out of materials. They were surrounded by enemies who hated them and managed to bring the work to a halt for years. Finally the Jews received authorization from the new ruler to begin again, but they were discouraged and lethargic. To compound the situation, the oldest among them could remember what Solomon’s temple looked like before the Babylonian invasion. They remembered how the presence of God had left the temple before the Babylonian invasion. Would he ever return? Their modest building seemed like nothing in comparison. God inspired Haggai to rouse the people with a glorious, hopeful vision and a dose of realistic, practical advice. Haggai used the wonderful image of God shaking the nations like a piggybank so that treasure will fall on his needy people. With this vision in hand, Haggai exhorted the people to let go of fear and get to work. “Take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you” (Haggai 2:4). Through Haggai, God addressed their deepest fear, that he had abandoned them: “My Spirit abides among you; do not fear” (2:5). Even though they cannot imagine how they will get from their present desperate situation to the promised glory, they can take the next step, prayerfully laying the next stone. The rest is up to God. When depression assails us, we often ask the wrong question. Instead of asking, “Why is this happening to me?” ask God, “What are you enabling me to do today to begin to change the situation?” And then, like the Jews, we too can work, confident that God’s Spirit rests on us. “Lord, my hope is limited, but I’m willing to take up my trowel. Show me what I can do today to bring your kingdom closer.” Psalm 43:1-4; Luke 9:18-22 |
|