Day Five – Haggai 1:8-9

“Go up to the mountains, bring wood and rebuild the temple, that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. “You look for much, but behold, it comes to little; when you bring it home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of hosts, “Because of My house which lies desolate, while each of you runs to his own house.^[1]

God still speaks today just as He spoke in Haggai’s day. He speaks through His word. He speaks through dreams, visions and inspiration. He speaks through events, and also through the voices of His appointed representatives; such as He did through Haggai. Sometimes when the Lord speaks His word requires interpretation so that it may be understood. But many times, perhaps even most times, when the Lord speaks it is very clear. These two verses are very clear. The times have been hard for the returning Jews and it was not coincidental. God was behind their hardship because His house, the house He sent the Jews back to rebuild, still remained in ruins. The only remedy to their dilemma was for them to take proactive action to begin again the work they had delayed.

God is not behind every negative thing that we experience. There are some things that happen that are just part of life, and then there are other things that come as consequences for actions we have taken. But then there are times when God will inflict upon His people trouble in order to get their attention. This is not an especially pleasant thought. Why would the people of God wait until bad things begin to happen to walk in obedience? Yet, such is exactly what happens much of the time. Notice how aggressive people become in their prayer lives when they encounter trouble or how many promises are made to do what they are already charged to do if God would rescue them from their situations?

If we are honest, we know well the things we are leaving undone. We know what we are called to do and how we are called to live. Many know the thing(s) we have been called to perform. Haggai tells the Jews living in Jerusalem, building their own houses while neglecting the house of God, to go to the mountains and bring down wood to build the temple. It is a very specific instruction with a very specific result. Let us make a proactive decision today to go back and readdress those things, and in the process of so doing receive a very specific result, God’s glory will once again fill our circumstances.

Dear Lord, there are many things we have left unaddressed. We have been slow to perform your good and perfect will and have wondered where You were in our circumstances. Enable us today to look honestly at those circumstances, and seeing where we have neglected to do as we have been instructed, move proactively to change our situations. This we ask in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 1:8–9.