Discouragement and Vision

“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)

There is a window of discouragement in every work of faith.

Before the downpour, we all look like Noah on dry land. In this phase—the building before the breakthrough—our souls grow weary. We buy the visible evidence. We trust the eyes above the "I AM."

The enemy has different tactics for different seasons.

After God sends the rain, the enemy pulls us into drunken pride.

But before God sends the rain, the enemy has a different brand of temptation. He lures us into the doldrums of despair. This is the window of discouragement: the opportune time for the devil to dismantle a house of glory before it is built.

The exiles had stopped building because they were tired of the bruises. God stirs them up again by showing them the peace beyond the pain:

“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 … 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. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. 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 2:4-9)

The Lord reveals that one day, all that was stolen away would be restored in full measure. There was a purpose in putting up a treasure room. Though they couldn’t see it yet, soon the gold and silver would shine.

The enemy uses the window of discouragement to hinder.

Into the same window of waiting, God speaks hope. Through his Spirit, he comes to us as we labor in an empty house and gives vision of the glory to come.

"We … [remember before our God and Father] your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3)

Every “work of faith” requires “steadfastness of hope.” If your hands are drooping in the work, it is because your vision of what God will do has grown dim.

Ask God to let you see through the window of waiting into his “bright hope for tomorrow.”

Every stone we lay is for an unseen kingdom. We need faith to see the new temple that Christ is bringing down—the place where every bit of labor done in his name is never in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).