Hey, friend, how are you holding up? I’m guessing you are at home—feeling a little wonky and needing a little encouragement. In this week of crazy pandemic-panic, I want to offer you a virtual hug and whisper words of peace. I also want to share what God has set on my heart about this being our “mountain time” right now. Curious? Allow me to explain…
This week, my She Reads Truth Bible reading found me in the random book of Haggai. I’ll be honest, I was hoping for more peace-like verses with lots of “don’t worry about Coronavirus” kind of encouragement. And here I’m reading about a negligent people who cared more about making their own houses fancy than focusing their effort on rebuilding the temple of God.
That was the command to the people from the Lord, via Haggai the prophet. The Message translation puts it like this: “Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over.” And then… God sent the people up into the mountains to collect wood to start the building process of His temple.
I wonder how long it took them. How much time they had to “consider their ways” as they climbed their mountain. They had plenty of thinking time during that hike, and then while they chopped and hauled and dried the wood. It was not a fast process. Their focus was suddenly shifted and they had a little breathing room to reflect upon what was truly important. How their gaze had wandered from the beauty of the Lord to the many distractions and shiny things that made them simply feel good.
It seems we all have our own personal mountain to climb right now, doesn’t it? Our own time at home, weirdly isolated away from our usual distractions and shiny things—we have the opportunity to take a good, hard look at our lives. Have I been so preoccupied with my own “house” that I’ve neglected God? I fear this is the case for me…
What if we use this “mountain time” to ponder, pivot, and press into Jesus?
Ask how we can best be used by Him. Our words, our encouragement, our grocery shopping, our phone calls, our kindness—how can we be channels of His peace amidst panic right now?
May our hearts echo the Prayer of Saint Francis:
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.”
Friends, life is looking a little lopsided and out of whack for every single one of us. You may have a houseful of antsy children or you may be fretting because your kids are all far away (hello.) Perhaps you are worried about elderly parents or grandparents or family abroad, or you don’t know what’s going to happen with your job or your finances. I get it. We all get it. One thing is for sure: we crave peace over panic.
And because God knows we need to hear His promise of peace as we climb this mountain, at the end of the chapter in Haggai, His greatest comfort stands firm in our chaos:
It was true for the people who were figuring out how to do life as they climbed the mountain back in the day, and it’s true for us as we figure out how to do life in the midst of change right now.
We are in this together. And best of all, we are in this with God.
Consider your ways as you climb the mountain, dear friend. And know His perfect peace—
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