Haggai: A Message of Hope
Haggai 1:2-9; 2:4-5, 9, 18-19, 23
Lists. Agendas. Most of us have them in some form. Applications for smartphones and tablets, and planners and other tools help organize our lives, and they highlight our priorities. They show what is important to us.
The question Haggai would ask is, “What is God’s agenda, and how does it match up with ours?” As we plan our agendas, as we assign our priorities to each item, where does God figure in? Do we think about Him and His plans? Is He – or a relationship with Him – on our agenda anywhere?
After the Babylonian captivity, God had commanded the people to finish building the temple in Jerusalem. After 15 years, the temple had not been completed. Instead, the people were busy with their own agendas, building and beautifying their own homes, disregarding what God had told them to do. Even as they pursued their own desires, they were not satisfied. It was because they were not placing God first.
As we plan out our day – and our days – we need to be sure that God, and His agenda, take precedence over everything. Circumstances might cause us to want to put our wants and wishes above those of God, but doing so is always a mistake. Any pursuits of our own will prove futile and unsatisfying. Our fulfillment comes only from a relationship with God, and in pursuing His priorities.
Through Haggai, God called the people to His work, and He assured them of His presence as they carried out the work He had given them. He was with them. We have that same assurance!
God has work for each of His followers. The completion of this work requires commitment, and sometimes the setting aside of our own agendas. But God promises His presence with us.
Sometimes God’s leaders need encouragement as they seek to lead His people in His ways. Rather than offering criticism and negative comments, church members can provide encouragement to their leaders. We can pitch in and do the work that God has shown needs to be done. As church leaders follow the priorities that God has give them, church members can encourage them verbally and by volunteering to help carry out that work. As churches and individuals seek God’s priorities, individually and corporately, and as they work to carry out those priorities, they will see God’s blessings in their lives and in their churches.
As soon as God’s people began rebuilding the Temple, God began blessing them. Although our motivation for obedience should not be based on perceived blessings, we should understand that our obedience will be rewarded. Even so, our motivation for aligning our priorities with God’s should be His pleasure. When we base our priorities on what He has called us to do, God is pleased.
Register– Lessons in the BSL series for the winter quarter are being written by Laurie Register, executive director-treasurer of Woman’s Missionary Union, SCBC.