Ponder the meaning of life, and you must inevitably grapple with the connection between you and the cosmos. You seem most important, because it's you. But you are not as large as the world, so the world must be more important. The big picture matters more than any one detail. But the details make up the world. If there are no individuals, there would be no world. Ultimately then, a satisfying vision of life must include both you and the world.

And so it does. God concludes the book of Haggai by focusing on the world. ″'On that day,' declares the Lord Almighty″ (Haggai 2:23). What day is God speaking of? It is the day of the Lord. Several prophets anticipate this climactic day when God's promised Messiah comes to judge and save the world.

This day will terrify God's enemies. They will ″flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from the fearful presence of the Lord and the splendour of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth″ (Isaiah 2:19; see also Joel 1:15, Zephaniah 1:14-18).

This day will reward the righteous. God himself will live among them; He will ″assemble the exiles and those [He has] brought to grief. [He] will make the lame [His] remnant, those driven away a strong nation″ (Micah 4:6-7; see also Isaiah 2:2-4 and Zechariah 2:10-13). The whole world will be made new–and freed forever from its bondage to decay!

But God's hope for the world does not gloss over individuals. He promises to make Zerubbabel like His ″signet ring″ and says, ″I have chosen you″ (Haggai 2:23). If you are God's child, He has chosen you (Ephesians 1:3-14). When everything is set free, so will you be!

God's promise for individuals does not obscure the world. A signet ring was a special stone engraved with the unique mark of a person. A king or dignitary would press the ring onto wet clay to seal a contract or document with his authority. God says Zerubbabel is His signet ring (Haggai 2:23). Unlike King Jehoiachin, whom God exiled into Babylon, saying ″even if you . . . were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off″ (Jeremiah 22:24), God will use Zerubbabel to re-establish His Davidic line of kings. Page ahead to Matthew's genealogy of Jesus, and you'll find Zerubbabel's name halfway between David and the promised Messiah (Matthew 1:6-17). God's promise to Zerubbabel is not merely for Zerubbabel's sake. Through his descendent Jesus Christ, God will fix the world.

Are you caught in a rut? God's ultimate solution is for you, but God's ultimate solution is not you. It's Jesus. You may not be able to fix your situation, but you can put your faith in the One who will. Come, Lord Jesus!