Encouragement and Promise

BY Guest Writer

Scripture Reading: Haggai 2:1-23, Romans 8:9-10, Hebrews 12:26

I suppose we’re all a little skeptical in the promises department. We feel like we need some collateral when someone makes one. But as a woman, as a Christ-follower, and as a broken person in desperate need of healing—nothing has changed me more than the Word of God, and more specifically, His promises to His people.

As the scattered Israelites stared at their ruined temple, God’s promises, voiced through Haggai, must have seemed impossible. And yet He fulfilled His promises in ways they never could have fathomed. Jesus would one day restore the temple. In fact, He would become the temple (John 2:19).

He will keep His promises to us too. Everywhere we see destruction in our lives, we will one day see restoration. Where we feel only brokenness, we will one day experience healing. The grief we know so intimately now will one day be replaced with deep, lasting joy. Right now, this very moment, Jesus is working to make all things new. It won’t be long now.

Death will die. Tears will dry. All brokenness will mend. And where we currently see rubble, we will see a world re-built on the bedrock promises of God.

When? In the words of the Lord Himself, “in a little while” (Haggai 2:6). The time between this moment and the fulfillment of the beautiful promises of God is short. On the radar screen of eternity, the time between now and the realization of His promises is just a blip. And as we wait, He tells us, “My Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid” (Haggai 2:5; see also Romans 8:10). His words are not just an encouragement, but a promise too.

Based on the evidence of their current circumstances, the Israelites had reason to believe that God had abandoned them and reneged on His promises. Yet through the prophet Haggai, God reminded them to get their eyes off the brokeness because He is a God who comes through. If they’d only turn toward Him, they would see it! The call is the same for us, to lift our eyes from the brokenness inside us and all around us. We can look forward with great hope because God’s promises are true!

“For people swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute. Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:16–18).

Hung on a cross, Jesus chose to die for us. His finished work there is our collateral. We are a broken yet redeemed people, stitched together with a promise. There is something better coming. It won’t be long now. Just a little while.

Erin Davis is an author, blogger, and speaker who loves to see women of all ages run to the deep well of God’s Word. When she’s not writing, you can find Erin chasing chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest.