Haggai: What's Next?Sample

What God Wants Next

In the book of Haggai, we learn that God’s people were clear on what they wanted. But they hadn’t paused to consider what God wanted. Haggai showed up and urged the Israelites to align their priorities and expectations with God’s desires, because only He would give them the greatest gift of all: His presence. It’s easy to compile a list of wants when we’re going through tough times. We’re desperate to get our lives back on track, so we pursue whatever comforts might alleviate the hardship. However, like the Israelites, we seldom pause in those circumstances to consider what God may want next. We focus inwards instead of upwards.

The Israelites in Haggai’s day were dealing with real stress – some beyond their control, some of their own making. The difficulties they faced led to self-preservation and self-absorption, and an indifference to God’s will. Upon returning to Jerusalem, they’d laid the temple foundations only to abandon them for the next 17 years. They’d shifted their focus to their own immediate, physical needs and comforts – houses, crops, food, clothing, etc – to the neglect of continuing to rebuild God’s temple. Think about the last thing God clearly told you to do – a month, a year, ten years ago. Have you inadvertently become distracted from obeying God’s call, because of blindsiding suffering? If so, think about how disregarding what God called you to do has played out in your life over the past season.

Haggai bravely confronts God’s people on their indifference towards the temple rebuilding (Haggai 1:2–4). Of course, God didn’t just want a building. The physical building would symbolise His presence and His relationship with the people He loved and would be a sign to the surrounding nations of the power and purposes of the one true God (Haggai 1:13).

God wanted Israel to build the healthy habits that cultivated a healthy relationship with Him. Through Haggai, He urged them to repent, reprioritise, and refocus (Haggai 1:12, 14). It’s likely you currently face some pressing, stressing, and oppressing factors, steering you off course or causing you to neglect your relationship with God. What would change in your life, practically, if you turned from complacency to pursue God by repenting, reprioritising, and refocusing? Identify those things in your life detracting from God’s best for you – then repent, reprioritise, and refocus, to enjoy the fullness of God’s presence in your life. The eternal, all-powerful Creator who needs nothing and can’t be served by human hands still wants to be in relationship with us. His love is matchless, and it’s on offer to all who will humble themselves to receive it through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is Emmanuel – God with us – constantly calling us to recentre our lives on Him as He shows us what’s next.