Break the Pattern Haggai 1.9
Haggai 1:9 “9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.”
A group of Israelites has returned from exile in Babylon (where God had sent them due to their prolonged involvement in idolatry and selfishness). They were commissioned by God and King Cyrus to rebuild the temple. Although they have arrived back in the land, they have become distracted by everyday tasks, trying to set up their own homes, farms, and so on.
Haggai is sent to motivate these people to get to work on rebuilding the temple. So, how does this apply to you and me? Well, God has come into our lives and offered us the great gift of salvation, along with the task of carving out space in our hearts, lives, and routines to discover more about Him and to worship Him (wasn’t that the purpose of the temple?).
The problem is that it seems the harder we work, the less progress we make: car repairs, medical bills, broken this, broken that. We never seem to accomplish what we feel we need to get done, and therefore our time gets consumed. As a result, our commitment to God and worship flies out the door, preventing us from engaging in the work God has called us to do. God may be hindering your success because you are not willing to make Him and His calling on your life a priority.
Don’t chase after other means to find peace and excitement; that will only consume even more time, leading to God being ignored. Time gets wasted, and life becomes a meaningless treadmill.