I will provide peace in this place

I don\’t know if this blog is to encourage me, to encourage others or both. But writing it in real time while I\’m actively going through the things, feeling all the feels, and navigating in uncertainty seems crazy.

Like, how am I going to encourage someone else in the midst of my storm? I\’m barely encouraged myself.

I guess the irony of it all is that when I\’m discouraged & I come to Him, not only does He encourage me, but with that, I\’m able to come & encourage someone else. Hopefully. That\’s the purpose in this blog, I believe.

Today I was down. Amidst being blessed by having electricity, Wi-Fi, and lots of food during our 1st ice storm in Texas, I was down. To give some perspective, I told a friend \”I feel like my whole life is being snatched away from me and this is costing me everything.\” \”This\” meaning my obedience to God. I was missing my old life. Still am a bit if I\’m being completely honest.

So, what did I do? I brought my feelings to the Lord. And what did He do? He led me to Ezra 3 then Haggai 2:9. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but He knew exactly what my heart needed to see.

As I read Ezra 3 something struck me. So here\’s some backstory. The people who returned from exile were rebuilding the temple that had been destroyed & when the foundation of it was finished the older priests, Levites & family heads wept (literally cried, like I was) when the new temple foundation was revealed because they remembered the glory of Solomon’s temple. They had seen its beauty, size, and splendor, and this new beginning looked small and unimpressive in comparison. Their tears came from grief, disappointment, and the weight of what had been lost. It was a moment where expectation collided with reality. There was a mix of joy for what God was rebuilding and sorrow for what no longer looked the same.

Sounds exactly like where I am in my life. God has destroyed some things – lots of things – from my prior life. Things that I miss. Things that I knew to be good. Now I\’m in a season of rebuilding, but it looks nothing like I imagined. I dreamt it to be immediately more. Immediately better. It has not been.

And just like those older priests, I felt that mix of grief and gratitude – thankful for a new beginning, but mourning what no longer looked the same.

But then I was led to Haggi, and that\’s where my encouragement came. In Haggai 2:9 it says – The final glory of this house will be greater than the first, says the Lord of Armies. \”I will provide peace in this place.\”

The beginning of Haggai 2 is saying – The former things (even in their glory) look like NOTHING compared to what it looks like when God restores it. Keep going. Keep working toward the things the Lord is instructing you to do. He is with us. He is our resource. Theres no reason for us to cling to the former things because the new thing is better and will bring us peace. Why is that? Because it is built with the Lord and He keeps His promises.

If there’s anything this moment in Ezra and Haggai taught me, it’s that God isn’t asking me to pretend I’m not grieving the old things. He’s just asking me to believe that what He’s building next will carry a glory and a peace that the former things never could. So even if it feels small right now, even if it feels nothing like what I hoped for, I’m choosing to keep showing up — because the God who rebuilds always finishes what He starts.