Rebranding at its Best

“My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt.” Haggai 2:5

(NIV)

We don’t have to look far to find the concept of rebranding in our culture. Rebranding is taking something broken or irrelevant and rediscovering new purposes. Rebranding is seeing value in something that seems to have lost its worth. Rebranding is transforming a previous existence into a meaningful future…a new identity if you will.

The reference to Egypt in our verse would have gotten the Jew’s attention and reminded them of the dark stories of their ancestor’s previous captivity. We can be confident that this generation had heard accounts of all the horrible treatment from their parents and grandparents who worked as slaves. ‘These Jews had every reason to feel dark emotions and remember negative stories when it came to the word Egypt. Egypt was slavery. Egypt was pain. Egypt was sorrow and loss and hardship…That’s why God, Who redeems everything, rebranded Egypt for the Jews in Haggai.’ Take Courage, Jennifer Rothschild, p. 112. He brought up one of the most difficult seasons and reminded them that He had never left them. He promised that His past faithfulness was the same faithfulness upon which they could depend. He rebranded the pain of the past to His faithfulness in the present.

I began considering this morning, what is the word that triggers your heart to need reminding of God’s faithfulness? Is it grief…unemployment…divorce…bankruptcy…prodigal child? When I canvas the landscape of my past seasons of sorrow it is easy for me to remember the dark moments I experienced during those times. But God comes along echoing His past promises of carrying me through those times. Through the comfort that only He can give, He rebranded my past sorrows into my strength for today. Through His promise, He rebrands my discouragement from unanswered prayers into hope for fulfilled promises. Through His presence, He rebrands my loneliness for my loved ones into my confidence of eternal reunions.

When we place past pain and hardship into the hands of our faithful Father, we will see His transforming work. We will watch His movement in our circumstances and receive His guarantee that His Spirit is still among us working for us. Everything we experience…the good and the bad… will lean into the repurposing of our faith. God will turn our previous dark seasons into a meaningful future when we trust Him for His promises. No matter on earth or in Heaven, He will redeem all things in His time.