Haggai 2:18-19

‘Do consider from this day onward, from the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month; from the day when the temple of the Lord was founded, consider: ‘Is the seed still in the barn? Even including the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree, it has not borne fruit. Yet from this day on I will bless you.’ ”^[1]

When repentance comes there are still consequences with which to contend. Such was the case with the Jews in Haggai’s time. The devastation to their crops came as a direct consequence of their unwillingness to walk in obedience to the will of God. There was no more seed in the barns and presumably what they had planted had not yielded a return. This was a painful reminder of their shortsighted choices. Yet in the midst of this great devastation Haggai offers an incredible ray of hope from the Lord, “Yet from this day on I will bless you.”

Perhaps one of the hardest things with which the believer has to contend is the consequence of their sin. We would like to believe that once the Lord has forgiven us we are free from everything associated with what we had done. We hope upon hope that the Lord will reverse what we have done so that there is no evidence whatsoever of any wrongdoing on our part. While it is true that God forgives us and forgets what we have done, the consequences of we what have done still linger, i.e. a pregnancy occurs, one’s infidelity is discovered, a job is lost, jail time is served, etc.

Here is the good news; God says that from this time on He will bless us. In the midst of all the craziness, all of the hell that is swirling around us as we endure the consequences God says he will bless us. Consider today what it is you have missed in your walk with the Lord. What have you left undone you were charged to do? What has been the obstacle to your forward momentum? Have you confessed it? The consequences are still with you, but in the midst of it God will bless you.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for forgiving our sin. Thank you for blotting it out of the book of remembrance so that it exists no more. Thank you casting it away from us as far as the east is from the west. Thank you for giving us the capacity to forgive ourselves. Now Lord, give us the grace to endure the consequences of our actions. We love You and trust You to do as You promised and bless us in the midst of it. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Hag 2:18–19.