“I AM WITH YOU!”

Haggai 2:4-9                                        (ESV)
“4 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,
5 according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.  My SPIRIT remains in your midst. FEAR NOT.
6 For thus says the LORD OF HOSTS: Yet once more, IN A LITTLE WHILE, I WILL SHAKE THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND THE DRY LAND.
7 And I WILL SHAKE ALL THE NATIONS, so that THE TREASURES OF ALL NATIONS SHALL COME IN, and I WILL FILL THIS HOUSE WITH GLORY, says the LORD OF HOSTS.
8 The SILVER IS MINE, and THE GOLD IS MINE, declares the LORD OF HOSTS.
9 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.'"

Very seldom do I use the same passage of Scripture two days in a row, and to my knowledge I have NEVER used the same passage three days in succession.  But I can already see the message of FEAR NOT being used to channel my thoughts.  However the words “I AM WITH YOU” are ringing in my Spiritual ears today.

Isn’t it bothersome to have a ringing in your hearing, that constant interruption from the PEACE that we have come so accustomed to?  Having your Spiritual Hearing “in tune” with the Spirit of GOD is a wonderful experience.  When that fellowship (PEACE) is interfered with by the things of “this world”, it can cause unrest, even TURMOIL in our Spirits.  That TURMOIL is one of the best tools used by the enemy, because it causes me to begin looking for a solution to return the PEACE that I once enjoyed.

The enemy wants to keep us doing ANYTHING but trusting GOD for our EVERYTHING!  TURMOIL is basically not trusting GOD.  I realize that it is difficult to trust GOD whenever we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, but WHO IS IN CONTROL of our lives?  ALMIGHTY GOD, our CREATOR, the Giver and Sustainer of life, is telling us “I AM WITH YOU”!  If GOD is with us, what do we have to FEAR?

Knowing that “I AM WITH YOU” is one of the best blessings I can imagine.  So why is it so easy for me to allow “the enemy” to cause troubled waters to cause me concern?  The bottom line is, GOD is in charge of EVERYTHING and we should TRUST HIM, even if HE guides us through a ferocious storm!  The very ONE WHO said “Let there be.....” lives inside of me so I need to forever remember that “I AM WITH YOU” and TRUST HIM to deliver me!!!