Take Courage

February 27, 2025

From Jackie Payne

We started the women’s Bible study on Tuesday night and are doing Jennifer Rothschild’s “Take Courage”, which is a study on the book of Haggai. (To be honest, I had to go to the table of contents to find Haggai. It’s between Zephaniah and Zechariah if you are curious).  She talked about being able to handle the big catastrophes, but there is such a struggle to handle the drip…drip…drip of the chronic challenges in our lives. When difficult things don’t seem to end or keep coming up, we get drained and discouraged over time. And that’s when God says to take courage. We don’t have to come up with it on our own. He has it; it’s ours for the taking.

Ultimately, this giving that is so characteristic of the God of the Universe, is about His love for us and His desire to dwell with us. In the book of Haggai, He used the prophet to spur on the people to finish building the temple so that He could dwell with them. Today, He still wants to dwell with us, but it’s through the power of the Holy Spirit that we get that privilege.

I have a close family member who believes in God, but he doesn’t think He’s worth pursuing. This family member has everything he needs in this world. He can take care of his family. He can buy all the fun gadgets and “toys” that he wants. He can go on great vacations. He lacks for nothing, as far as the world is concerned. So why should he subject himself to a relationship with Jesus? What’s in it for him?

My prayer for him (and for you if that resonates with you) is that he has a soft heart for the One who has the most loving, giving, forgiving, merciful, brilliant and powerful heart. May your heart be open to Him dwelling with you and giving you courage (and whatever else you need).