“ARE YOU TAKING NOTES?!?”
That was me to my son, Emmie, today, as we spent some time with his dad getting ready to leave for work. I’ll never forget a day at the office when I felt completely overwhelmed by everything my husband had to take on, and a close family friend said, “Nikki, don’t even try to understand the pressures on a man. We were built to handle this; you were not.”
So, this post today is for everyone doing complex things on God’s and their family’s behalf to remind you that our God is a living God who is with us in every moment, supporting us, helping us, and giving us the strength and courage to keep going. Our support system is the Almighty God, and the joy of the Lord is our strength to take on HARD THINGS. It’s just for us to focus on Him in every moment, tapping into His strength, guidance, wisdom, favor, protection, tact, personality, joy, and help that is incredibly available to us in every moment. But enough from me today, our friend, Ceri, shared this recently:
“From the book of Haggai 2:4-5 that says:
“But now the Lord says: Be strong, Zerubbabel. Be strong, Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people still left in the land. And now get to work, for I am with you, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt. So do not be afraid.’”
Today I’m just grateful for the spirit of God. I am grateful for our strength, something that I continuously pray for and I’m grateful for, like this verse says, God’s spirit lives amongst us. It’s so important for us to remember that the God that we serve is a living God…
Our faith is in alignment with our God. Our God lives amongst us. He’s a living God, and it’s just so refreshing to know that He’s here at all times. Even though we can’t see Him, our faith shows and tells us He is here. When it’s time when we need Him, and we call on Him, He shows up. Even though we don’t see him, but we know that he shows up because He shows up inside people, or He shows up through things, or like He still shows up. It’s hard for us to explain, but we know that He is here.
One of the things that stood out to me in this particular verse again was how Haggai was in this particular book in the Bible. They’re speaking about rebuilding the temple. He was speaking to some of the old Jews and just basically telling them to like be strong, keep pushing, we have a job to do.
And God was telling them that like even though it seemed like such a hard task, that He was there with them. God told them in this particular verse, ‘For I am with you. Be strong for I Am With You.’ And that’s something that always replays in my mind, and every day and every moment that I pray, that’s one of the first things that always comes out on my lips is that I pray for strength. I know that God is with me, but I also know that I can’t do it alone, but I need the strength so that I can keep pushing forward. I can keep doing my best. I could keep growing. I could keep being strong for other people who are close to me. A lot of times, my strength isn’t just for me. A lot of times, I pray for my strength; it honestly isn’t for me. It is to hold up the house so the roof doesn’t collapse around everyone else.
I pray for strength over anyone that needs it. And I want to remind anyone who needs to hear it that they close this verse by saying, “Do not be afraid.” Fear is of the devil, and it’s easy for it to encapsulate us and for us to get worried and anxious about things. And you must be reminded that God we serve is a living God, and He’s amongst us and lives with us. He told us not to be afraid. I’m gonna listen to him.”
Let’s keep it pushing! God Himself is with and for us!!! Heehaw!!!