Haggai 2:3-4 (NIV)
‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? But now be strong…all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
How many times have we found ourselves beginning to start something we KNOW we are supposed to do, and then later down the road, we start to feel discouraged because, maybe, it wasn’t producing the results we hoped for?
Imagine you worked out consistently. You’ve cut back on the times you visit your fav restaurant, stopped overindulging in sweets, AND went to the gym even when you didn't feel like it. Two months later, you found yourself bummed out that you still couldn’t fit the dress you were hoping to get into by your birthday, so you start thinking that all the work you did was a waste of time. OR, maybe you found yourself with an unhealthy attraction to alcohol, so you finally decide to quit drinking. You muster up the courage to attend a rehabilitation program, embrace the loving community around you that’s pushing you to be better, and decide that you will not let it have control over you anymore. Then you’re hit with problems at work, stressors at home, the fact that you’re not exactly, in life, at the place you thought you would be by now, and thinking that maybe all the progress you made was just temporary and ineffective as you’re struggling to handle these new challenges. You’re contemplating giving up on your morale to stop drinking.
No matter what your situation is, we have all found ourselves working extremely hard at something that we KNOW will produce a better outcome for us, but didn't quite see the results we expected, in our desired timeframe.
I found myself at this place a few weeks ago. I felt like I was supposed to start this blog. I wasn’t sure why, but it felt like this was a chance to finally “go for it”. I was writing new posts on a consistent basis, investing for a website, and starting to post on social media (which if you know me, you understand how far away from my comfort zone that is). I felt good about committing to the process, but would find myself contemplating if it will all be worth it or if I’m just wasting my time, and if I was the “right one” for the job, when more times than not, I was the villain in my own story.
As all of these questions were running through my mind, I came across a book in the Bible called Haggai. Haggai is two chapters long and takes place after God saves only a remnant of His people to return to their home, Israel, following the Babylonian exile. They used to have a beautiful, vast temple that housed the Spirit of God but was destroyed when invaders seized the city. Upon their return to Israel, they decided to tell themselves that it wasn’t quite time to rebuild the temple. Maybe because they were distracted by things that didn’t really matter, or maybe they just feared someone would come to destroy, once more, something they worked so hard to build. God affirmed them that He was with them and it was time to do it.
After months of re-building the temple, they again started to feel discouraged. They were putting in all this time, effort, and energy to build something for God, but it wasn’t looking like what they had hoped for. Their concerted efforts weren’t creating something that measured up to the beautiful temple that was there before. They were let down, because of their unmet expectations; and probably wondered if they should still continue? Or if it was still valuable? God once again stepped in to provide hope. He acknowledged their feelings and didn’t condemn them for it. Instead, He encouraged them to keep going, to keep working. He affirmed that He was still with them and that their work was not going to waste. It would indeed produce something greater than what they had seen before, if they remained faithful.
Throughout the Book of Haggai, I noticed how relatable it was to feel inadequate or to allow doubt, fear, or frustration to hold you back from doing what’s on your heart. The beautiful part of the whole story is God stepping in to affirm to them that it was, indeed, time to build, and to keep going when they wanted to quit.
I hope this provides some sort of encouragement to someone out there doing the work but contemplating if it will be worth it in the end. Don’t give up, friend. Keep doing what you know is right. It will all work out exactly the way it needs to and imagine all the stories you can tell of how you remained faithful, in the face of uncertainty, on the other side.
Comments