He Is Right Here!

Haggi 1:6-9 ~ You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but you are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes! This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! Now build my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.

How many of you felt to your soul the part about wages disappearing as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes? I know I felt it yesterday when I paid $9 for 3 tacos at Taco Bell, and they had a tablespoon of beef in them! I remember a time when they were .39¢ a piece!

So much of scripture looks like what we are experiencing in our current culture today. Haggai was a prophet at the time that the remnant of Israel had been released from slavery, and they were allowed to go back to the promised land. They were so excited to be free to do as they pleased in the land God had given them that they neglected the whole reason they were sent back. The temple was where God dwelt with His people. It was the place that His people could be in His presence and offer their sacrifices. They neglected to build it back to honor the God that had first saved a remnant of them to continue their heritage, and second, had returned them to the land they had been promised. God was reminding them that all they were striving after was nothing compared to their need for Him.

I believe we are seeing that in our world today. The temple is no longer a structure. It is the hearts and spirits of the people that belong to God. The ones that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We are now the temple of God. Sometimes we are so busy striving after the things of this world that we neglect the temple. We ignore the Spirit of the Holy God that abides within us. I also believe that due to our tendency to ignore Him, we are seeing the things spoken of in Haggi. Our world is falling apart at the seams. We are witnessing things that should be getting our attention. Will we heed the words God spoke to Israel through Haggi? Will we rebuild our temple, our relationship with the Lord of Heaven’s Armies?

Some of us may be thinking, “Well, my relationship with God is just fine.” What about our neighbor’s relationship with Him? Do we know? Do we pray, weep, cry out to God for his relationship or salvation? We do not live in a bubble just because our relationship with God is good. Israel was held accountable for the actions of each other as a whole. I believe our nation is in the midst of judgment from God as a whole. Those that held the right attitude and respect for their God in Haggi’s time were suffering along with those that did not, as I believe we are now. I know you are probably thinking, “Well, thanks for the gloom and doom lesson!” I know I was just thinking that myself. What’s the good news then? The good news is that Israel listened to the Lord’s message. They rebuilt the temple and God blessed their land again. The great news is that it’s never too late if you are a child of the one true King. He is ALWAYS there waiting for His people to return to Him.

Yesterday was a bad day for me. I was rudely woken from my precious sleep when the electricity went off at 4am. Texans CANNOT sleep without a fan! I was cranky when I got to work early, which is usually my time to take 15 minutes to pray and prepare for the day before anyone else gets there. However, due to my crankiness, I skipped that prayer time. I was falling asleep in my chair at the time I usually take to read and spend time with God in the evening. As I laid down in bed, I asked God’s forgiveness for not taking time to be in His presence. I heard that still, small, beautiful, gracious voice say to me, “I’m right here. I will always be right here.” That’s the God we serve. Sometimes He has to shake our world up to get our attention when we don’t come to Him on our own, but He is always right here!