These glum days of November always seem to drag, don’t they? Grey skies coupled with dismal news from the NHS, Covid 19 and Cop26 all conspire to dampen the mood! Add the fearful news about new legislation and a general sense of displacement that everyone has at this time of year and it’s no wonder that some feel like the grass would be greener somewhere (anywhere!) else!
Yet as we saw from Ezra 5 & 6 on Sunday morning the Word of God is living and active to change our hearts and our circumstances! Haggai & Zechariah continued to ‘support’ the remnant of temple re-builders by preaching God’s Word (Ezra 5:2 & 6:14) and unbeknown to the remnant, Daniel was quietly witnessing to the King by his persistent sacrificial prayers from 1000 miles away (Daniel 6)!
As God’s people we rarely have the whole picture, but as we listen to and apply His Word perhaps of rebuke:
Haggai 1:4: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses,
while this house remains a ruin?”
or maybe of encouragement
Zech 4:6: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
We can be confident in a great God who loves us, has a plan and keeps His promises!
As the autumn continues, lets continue to trust Him and find ways to serve Him in the circumstances in which He has placed us. The ‘temple-building’ may feel like a hard slog, but He will gain glory in the end:
1 Peter 2:5 “… you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house c to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Spencer Shaw