Overcoming tragedy, restoring glory

July 17, 2007

By Brad Mattrisch

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty” (Haggai 2:6-9, NIV).

Did you ever experience a tragedy that totally altered your life? I think about our American military heroes who serve us on foreign soil but come home permanently disabled. I can’t imagine the stress and hardship this puts on them and their families.

Although I have faced many struggles in this life, my only tragedy came at birth as I experienced a delay in breathing for 26 minutes. This single event drastically changed my life as well as the lives of my family members. I am sure my parents had times of depression as they pondered how life could be any better after I was born. They must have felt so inadequate to raise a son with a serious disability.

The Bible says God’s people faced a tragedy over 2,500 years ago as the Babylonians came and took them into captivity. The captivity would last 70 years before they’d return home. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem’s beautiful temple after stealing gold and silver articles from it.

In 520 B.C., after some exiles had returned, the prophet Haggai began his ministry to God’s people in Jerusalem concerning finishing the rebuilding of the temple. The reconstruction effort actually began in 539 B.C.; however, the exiles became discouraged and reluctant to obey Haggai’s message. They had become too busy building their own homes, and they endured political instability, a desperate economy, and opposition from enemies in their homeland. They felt trapped with no way of completing the project or restoring the temple to its former glory.

Did you ever feel trapped in a situation where you thought you lacked the resources to get out of it? God says in this passage that all of the gold and silver is His. He has all of the resources needed for us to overcome our tragedies. Sometimes our situations look so bleak we are tempted to lose hope.

I had a lengthy recovery after a recent surgery. Some days I wondered if I would ever get through it. I had such bad headaches and was so sick to my stomach I spent most of my day in bed. This went on for several weeks before I could return to work. Some mornings before work, I would pray for God to give me His strength because I was so weak. The long recovery convinced me God has all the resources I will ever need. It took a lot of patience, but the Lord did show himself faithful. Sometimes the Lord miraculously heals me; other times He asks me to trust Him through a challenging situation.

The Lord through Haggai says the glory of this present house shall be greater than the former house. The exiles had in their minds that God had to reveal His glory in the same way, but God wanted to do something they were not expecting. This passage has messianic implications pointing to Christ. The glory was not about the gold and silver in the former house; the glory in this house would be God revealing himself.

Several of my friends have said the accidents leaving them disabled were only a step for them to meet Jesus. Life serving Christ, even with a disability, is of measureless joy compared to a life without disability and without Christ. It is so easy to get caught up in our own expectations we miss what God wants to do. I have found the Lord reveals His glory in ways I least expect.

The Lord said He would fill His house and grant peace there. The new temple was all about the presence of the Lord. As God filled that house with His glory, He longs to fill us, His temple, with His presence. It is not about the gold and silver; it’s all about Him.

Brad Mattrisch is the eChapter coordinator for Special Touch Ministry, Inc., Waupaca, Wis.