Pressures, demands, expectations, and tasks push in from all sides and assault our schedules. I feel this often rather it's my team, students, ministry partners, my region or even myself. Do this! Be there! Finish that! Call them! It's overwhelming at times, sometimes draining to the point where I feel like I have very little to give.
This brings me to Haggai chapter one. I have been camping out in this passage for a couple weeks now. I definitely connect with the Jews and their assignment of rebuilding the temple. They started out with the right heart attitude, but got distracted, procrastinated, made excuses and God was no longer their priority. They began to build their lives around caring for their own families rather than God's concerns.
For months my life has been built around caring for others all the while neglecting my own personal walk with God. I have been putting my energy in ministry instead of my relationship with God. For instance the more the Jews worked the less they had because they ignored their spiritual lives. Because God wasn't first, their work was not fruitful or productive. Judah's problem was confused priorities much like mine. Many times I allow ministry to be my God. I have been going through the motions. I have become more concerned about the students in this ministry, about the way I performed for them, my team and my ministry partners that God became low on my priority list. There have been times where I have felt frustrated with the results with ministry this semester and God used this passage to awaken me.
What I have learned is that the problem is not the volume of demands, but values- what is truly important to me. I have been struggling because I have been more concerned about pleasing others rather then God, bottom line! This is what the Lord almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways." Haggai 1:5;7 This verse is the Lord getting my attention and calling me to action. Studying this passage has challenged and encouraged me, reminding me of God's claim on my life and my priorities.
