𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣
• Tell us about an “expectation versus reality” moment you experienced.
• What is one memorable encouragement you received recently?
• Tell us about a time when you started doing something, but didn’t finish it. What happened?


𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩, 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘢𝘪 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵: “𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘡𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘭, 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘻𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺, ‘𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸? 𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴?’” 𝗛𝗔𝗚𝗚𝗔𝗜 𝟮:𝟭–𝟯

(Read also 𝗛𝗔𝗚𝗚𝗔𝗜 𝟮:𝟰–𝟵.)

A month after God had called His people to prioritize rebuilding His house, the Israelites had obeyed Him and begun to build the new temple. But they felt discouraged because it was not as grand as the temple previously built by King Solomon. God, however, reminded His people of His faithfulness. Today, we’ll look at how God encouraged His people as they did His work.

𝟭. 𝗕𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂.
“‘𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘖 𝘡𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭, 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋. 𝘉𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘖 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘢, 𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘻𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴𝘵. 𝘉𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋. 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘨𝘺𝘱𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵. 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵.’” 𝗛𝗔𝗚𝗚𝗔𝗜 𝟮:𝟰–𝟱

God saw the doubts and fears and thoughts of His people, and He told them that He was with them. The Israelites at that time were used to thinking of the Ark of the Covenant—and later the temple—as the presence of God. So God reminded them that “𝘔𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵.” He was teaching them that His presence was not dependent on a physical structure. As we take the step of obedience to God, He also reminds us to be strong and continue the work, because He is with us. What is one thing you knew you couldn’t have done without the strengthening presence of God?

𝟮. 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆.
“ . . . ‘𝘔𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵. 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴: 𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴.’” 𝗛𝗔𝗚𝗚𝗔𝗜 𝟮:𝟱–𝟳

The Israelites were disheartened by the work of their hands just a month into the building of the temple. But God encouraged them not to be afraid. He told them what He was about to do. What you see with your physical eyes is nothing compared to what God has planned. In His providence, He is at work in our lives and in the world—preparing things, working behind the scenes, creating opportunities, closing doors, and rearranging circumstances. He makes a way for His purposes to be fulfilled. What’s one time you wanted to give up on the way to a goal because your work seemed insignificant or discouraging? How did God encourage you and make a way for you?

𝟯. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝘀.
“‘𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴.’” 𝗛𝗔𝗚𝗚𝗔𝗜 𝟮:𝟵

God continued to encourage His people that the glory of the new temple would be even greater than the old. He reminded them that the treasure on earth was actually His (Haggai 2:8), and He could use it for His purposes. And then to His people who had finally come out of almost seventy years of exile, God promised that there would be peace. How do you think this passage encouraged God’s people at that time?


𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
• What situations are you facing now that don’t seem to have a resolution? Offer them to God and pray for His hope to remain alive in you.
• Are you discouraged about an area in your life right now? What are some of God’s promises you are holding on to? How will you take heart this week, knowing that God is faithful to His promises?
• Identify someone among your friends, family, or community that needs encouragement. Pray for and encourage him or her this week to remain steadfast in trusting and obeying God.


𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥
• Thank God for encouraging and strengthening you to do His work. Thank Him for never leaving you in every moment and season of your life.
• Ask God for His power to continue His work. Pray to clearly hear His voice above the voices of the world and the enemy.
• Pray that you will be assured of the greater glory and plans that God has for you, your family, and your community. Thank God that He has everything under control.