HAGGAI 1-2 CONSIDER YOUR WAYS BECAUSE RESULTS ARE DELAYED2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Haggai 1-2 Consider Your Ways Because Results Are Delayed

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2018. We're taking a break from reading through the Bible in three years. Well, we're still doing the reading, but I'm not teaching from Exodus this morning because this message has been on my heart really since the beginning of the year and in the

line with the family meeting and the things that God has in store for us and on our plates today, he just impressed upon my heart to share this with you out of the book of Haggai. So we'll be looking at the whole book of Haggai, but it's only two chapters, so you don't have to freak out. And then also, we're not covering every verse, but we'll be looking at chapter one as well as a little bit of chapter two and understand this word from the Lord through the prophet Haggai

to the people of Israel, but then ultimately to us this morning. And there's some things that God wants to speak to you about this morning. Before we get into that, though, I would ask you to consider this past week, looking back at the week behind us, the week that we've just gone through. And I would ask you to consider that with this in mind, how you lived this last week, that's how you live your life.

You might wrestle with that statement a little bit. You might argue with it a little bit in your mind, but I would ask you to consider, I would suggest to you that the way that you lived this week, the way that your schedule was, the decisions that you made, the priorities that you had, the activities that you were involved in, the way that you lived this past week, that is how you live your whole life.

Now, unless you had a life-changing event, you know, if you got married this past week, well, hopefully you're not here in service, you know, go on your honeymoon already, you know, you don't need to be here for that. But you understand, right? If there's a life-changing event, well, that's different. But just generally speaking, I would say, I would suggest this past week, that's a good sample for you to consider if

To understand how you live your whole life. And it's something important for us to do because five times in the book of Haggai, the Lord calls us to consider. He says, I want you to consider. It means to stop and think, to evaluate your heart and evaluate what's going on. Here in verse 5,

The Lord says, consider your ways. He'll say the same thing again in verse 7. Consider your ways. And then in chapter 2, he'll use the word consider again to consider some of the results of the things that are going on. He wants us to stop and think, to consider our ways. But that exhortation to consider your ways, it's a good exhortation, and I think we understand it. But at the same time, I would say, you know, it's kind of vague, right?

If I tell you to consider your ways, that could be challenging because how do you do that? And what does that entail? And what is that including? And so I would encourage you instead of just generally speaking, consider your ways, I would ask you to consider this past week. I want to rewind the tape a little bit and just kind of revisit. And would you just kind of in your own mind, think along with me, what has your week been like this past week?

I'll take you back to last Sunday. It was March 11th and the clock changed. You remember that? Sprung forward an hour. Everybody lost an hour of sleep. We came to church. We were all grumpy and had sleep in our eyes and our hair was all messed up. You remember that? How was your Sunday last Sunday? How was your church service last Sunday? Did you make it to church last Sunday?

Did you have a good time with God? Did you spend time with God's people? Did you maybe fellowship after the service, go out to lunch maybe with your friends or family? After church, what was your day like, heading into the afternoon and into the evening? Did you have some honey-dos to accomplish or some homework to catch up on or some tasks to do? Or maybe there's a good game on. I don't know about that. But maybe you were having a good time in some capacity. What was your Sunday like last Sunday, March 1st?

But then the dreaded day comes, right? Monday. Everybody hates the Mondays. And Monday morning, your week began. And whatever your routine is, you probably began that routine. And whether that's getting the kids up and getting breakfast and getting ready for school and getting off to work and all of those things that are involved in your normal kind of weekday, day-to-day routine. What was your Monday like?

How did that go for you? Did you have a good Monday? I mean, or was it the bad? Do you just kind of just like drug yourself through the day and just barely made it through because you had a bad case of the Mondays? I don't know about you, but man, something really important happened to me on Monday. I mean, like life-changing important. At 9 p.m. on Monday evening, episode 8, The Last Jedi was digitally released, and we had to drop everything and show it to my wife because she hadn't seen it yet. So...

I won't talk about, in reviewing this past week, how many times I've watched the most recent Star Wars. But that happened Monday. Then Tuesday. Now here at the church, we have a women's Bible study on Tuesday mornings as well as Tuesday evenings. Some of you participate in that. Some of you who participate in that...

participated this week and some of you who participate in that didn't participate this week and how did that go for you? What was that like and what was involved in those decisions on whether or not you were here and participating in that? What was the rest of your Tuesday like and your normal schedule? Again, dealing with the meals and kids and work and home and all of the different things that you balance in your life. What was Tuesday like for you? Was it a good day? That brings us now into Wednesday.

Wednesday, well, we have service in the evening. Did you make it out for Wednesday service? Did you have a good day on Wednesday? Did you have the normal routine? Did you have some other thing that kind of disrupted your routine? What was Wednesday like for you? In thinking about church on Wednesday, not that this is a law for every person who has to, you know, is supposed to attend on Wednesday, but generally speaking, I would ask you this then, how was your time with God this week?

As you look back this week, what was your time with God like? Did you have any beautiful times of worship? Any times of worship this past week that just kind of stand out and just, wow, I mean, that was just really beautiful. And I don't mean like someone sing beautifully, but just the way that you connected with the Lord. Did you have a beautiful time with the Lord in worship this week where your heart was tuned with his and you just sing with him and to him and together? And there was this worship that went on. How about this? Did God speak to you this week?

Have you heard from the Lord this week? Has he given you any insight this week into the things that you're facing, the situations that are going on in your life or in the scriptures as you've been spending time in his word? Have you been spending time in his word? But then did God speak on top of those things and just bring to light some truth, some aspect that really ministered to you? And wow, God is speaking to me. Did you have any kind of connection with God like that this week?

How about this? Did you get to serve God this week? Any opportunity throughout the week to honor God in some special way, to just represent Him, to just glorify Him, to be part of His work and His kingdom in a unique way, maybe exercising the spiritual gifts that God has given to you and your role within the body of Christ. And did you get an opportunity to do that, to be part of His work this past week?

That brings us into Thursday, perhaps another normal day for you. What was Thursday like for you? Did you have a good day? Was it a hard day? Was it a long day? Was it a short day? What happened for you this past Thursday? And then Friday. Friday is the day that kind of everybody looks forward to, you know, because then finally the work week's over and you can get on into the weekend and do all the fun stuff. But looking back at your week of work, was it

Was it a good week of work? Would you look back at this past week of work and say, you know, I'm proud of the work that I did. I did a really good job this week. I did my best. I was diligent and I did the best that I could and I honored God and represented him in the way that I worked. And as you look back, is that something you can say or do you have a different response as you look back to this past week of work?

and your relationships with your coworkers perhaps and the things that took place this past week. Think about perhaps your family. How was your family relationships this week? Any big fights this week? Any holes in the wall this week from...

Clashing together? Any good family times? Maybe just some special times of just like, whoa, like we just had a really neat time, you know? It's just a great, we just connected in a beautiful way. It was just a great time. What kind of family week or family time did you have this week? As you look back and reflect on the week, did you make good choices this week? We all have choices. We have tons of choices we're making all day, every day. Did you make some good choices this

Did you have some opportunities to just do something really well, do something good? From a spiritual perspective, I could also ask it this way. Did you give in to temptation this week? We all face temptation as well, and we all have those things that we're drawn to and those situations that are set up before us. And there is the decision to make and the giving in or the fleeing from the things that the enemy sets before us. How'd you do this week? Did you give in to temptation? Did you give in to temptation?

Or did you resist the devil that he might flee from you? Were you involved in perhaps some drinking this past week, some other substances perhaps that kind of help you deal with and cope with the things of your life and the situations that you face? How was your week as you look back? Now, as we consider this week, here's what I would ask you to do. We've rewound the tape. We've reviewed the week. Now, put this week on repeat.

And do this 52 times a year for the next 50 years. That's 2,600 times repeating this past week. And as you imagine that, as you live that out, as you play that out in your mind, is that the life that you want to have? 50 years from now, having lived this same week over and over and over again and looking back, is that a life that you are satisfied with?

Is that the life that you want for you? Is that the life that you want for your family? Is that the life that God wants for you? Again, I would suggest to you, how you have lived this past week, that's how you live your life.

And the Lord, through the prophet Haggai, is wanting to challenge us and to cause us to consider this week because, well, we wouldn't purposefully live our life with these patterns that are destructive to ourselves. We wouldn't purposefully, you know, choose those things. But a lot of times what happens is we live 50 years of this same bad week over and over and over again, stuck in our rut and just continuing on doing what we've always done, but

without stopping to hear the voice of the Lord. And that was the condition of the people of Israel when God sends Haggai the prophet. I've titled the message for this morning here in Haggai chapters one and two, consider your ways because results are delayed. Here God is saying, you guys are stuck in a routine and you're just carrying along like you always have been and you need to stop and consider what's going on

Because of the results that you're experiencing now and the results that you want to experience, but the results are delayed. Have you heard about the three-minute diet? It's an amazing new thing I just made up. Three minutes ago, I decided to go on a diet and I've lost 15 pounds. It's pretty amazing. You should do it. Just decide right now. I'm going to go on a diet. And over the next three minutes, you're going to lose. It doesn't work that way, does it? Now, you can lose 15 pounds if you want. You know how to do it.

It involves making some hard choices. You got to consider your ways. What are you eating? How are you exercising? You know, how are you working out? What type of lifestyle do you have? And then living out those choices, living out those decisions that will help you to work towards that. But there's no instant thing. It's a delayed result when you choose to go on a diet. In the same way, you consider to walk with the Lord and follow the Lord. There's a delayed result.

And because of that delayed result, we can continue easily in our patterns. And God wants to remind us that, well, he wants to do something different than what he's always done or we've always done. It's not just same old, same old, but God wants to speak to us and lead us step by step. Well, let's work our way through what God has for us this morning. The first of four points found here in verses one through five of Haggai chapter one, and that is consider how you spend your time.

Think about how you spend your time. Now, I've already helped you do that a little bit. We've gone through the week and thought about it, but let's see what the Lord has to say about this in verse 1 and 2. It says,

The Lord speaks to the people and says, here's what you are saying about your time. You're saying it's not time to build the Lord's house. And the Lord disagrees with that perspective.

But this is their perspective. This is the people that he is dealing with. Now, at the time that Haggai is bringing forth this word from the Lord, the temple has been destroyed. It was destroyed about 80 years prior by King Nebuchadnezzar. He conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the temple, took the Jews captive to Babylon. They were in captivity for 70 years. Then the Persians conquered Babylon. The Lord spoke to Cyrus, the king of Persia, and said, let my people go back and tell them to build the temple. And so...

The people were allowed to go back, and Jews came back, and the book of Ezra recounts this, that they're coming back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Well, they go back to Jerusalem, and they begin to rebuild the temple in 534 BC. Actually, it's 532 BC, but the work stops after two years, right?

So they've been working for a couple years, then the work stops because, well, there's a new king now, there's new authorities over them, and they tell them, you have to stop, you cannot continue. So they were forced to stop. Now when Haggai comes on the scene, it's 14 years after that. So for 14 years, the temple has just been sitting there with hardly anything done to it. It's mostly still just a pile of rubble.

It's mostly still just trash, just junk, just, you know, fragments of things that once existed there. They stopped building it 14 years ago, and they never started again. And currently at this time, here's the mindset of the people. It's not time that the Lord's house should be built. As they look at this, as they see the temple in ruins, you know, they're looking at this and they're saying, boy, that's a shame.

I wish it was time to build the Lord's house, but it's just not time to build the Lord's house right now. Now, as we look at these things this morning, I would encourage you to not get distracted by the building the house details. This is now for us today an illustration, and it can speak in a

For the people of that day, for God's people then, it was very literal. It was very specific. It was actually the temple that had to be rebuilt. But don't get stuck in your mind and think, okay, Jerry's talking about mowing the church lawn and painting the walls and making things look nice. Don't get stuck in that. Also, don't get stuck in, Jerry's talking about reading my Bible and praying. Don't get stuck in that. Now, maybe God is speaking those things to you.

But the point is not about some specific thing. It's an illustration to talk about whatever God is speaking to you about. For the people of Israel at this time through the prophet Haggai, the Lord was saying, here is my call in your life. And you're saying, it's not time for me to do what God has called me to do. And God's saying, I disagree. And as we consider these things today, we need to evaluate the same thing. God has some specific things that he is calling you to.

He has specific plans that he has set before you, specific works and desires for you. And we need to make sure and consider our ways that we don't stand in opposition and say, no, it's not time to do that, Lord. God would say, I disagree. You need to consider your ways first.

And specifically, consider how you spend your time. It's not time, they said, to build the Lord's house. They wouldn't disagree with the idea that it should be done. They wouldn't disagree with the importance of it being done. But they just said, it's not time right now. They said, no, we can't do that right now. It's not the time. You need to consider your time. Are there things in your life that you're saying, no, it's not time for that right now? When it comes to our schedules, our calendars, our time,

You need to understand that when you say no, when you say no to anything regarding your schedule or your time, you are always saying yes to something else. When you say no to something regarding your schedule, you are always, in every case without exception, saying yes to something else. We all have the same 24 hours each and every day.

And however you divide up and spend and use those 24 hours, they're used up and spent one way or the other. And if you say, no, I can't do that. I don't have time for that. Whatever time for that would have been used, it goes to something else. And so when you say, no, I can't do that. I can't go out to dinner with you, Jerry. Sorry. Well, you're going to spend that time somewhere doing something else. It's a choice that you're making. And we're not always conscious of that choice. And it's why we need to consider our ways to stop and think.

I didn't mean to say no to that or yes to that, but it's what happens whenever we make decisions about our time. In the same way, when you say yes to something regarding your schedule, regarding your time, you are always saying no to other things. So you say, yes, I can come to church on Sunday, March 18th. Well, that means you're saying also no to going to Denny's during church time, right? You're not at Denny's right now.

Now, maybe somebody listening to this later, watching online, are you at Denny's? You know, you said yes to something else. But when you say yes to something, it excludes other things. And you're exchanging, you know, different things whenever you're saying yes or no in regards to your time. And the people here are saying, no, I don't have time to build the temple. It's not the right time. I don't have time. You know, it's not for right now. Not time to build the temple.

But the problem that God had with them was, in addition to saying no to building the temple, well, of course, that time was spent on something else. So what were they saying yes to when they said, no, it's not time to build the temple? Well, they were saying yes to building their own homes. Check out verses 3 through 5. It says, Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying,

Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses and this temple to lie in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. Here was the exchange that they were making. No, not time to build the temple. Yes, time to build my house. It's kind of lost on us a little bit in the different culture. But when it refers to paneled houses here in verse 4...

He's referring to a form of luxury. A paneled house for them was a luxurious thing. It wasn't just a basic structure to keep the elements off of you. It was like, you know, you're preparing your house for the video feed of the Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous kind of thing. You know what I mean? Like, you're just like setting it up. This is like perfect. It's beautiful. It's luxurious. It's comfortable. Oh man, this is great. And then he's referring to a form of luxury.

That's the idea. And here's what they were doing. They were saying, no, I don't have time to build the Lord's house. But yes, I have time to make my house amazing. Now again, don't get too distracted by the house thing unless the Lord is speaking to you specifically about the house thing. But understand, there's an exchange that's going on.

And there are times where we are called by God and God is saying, I have this for you. And you're saying, I don't have time for that. It's not time for that. But now is the time for me to invest in what I want to be amazingly comfortable and to be just, you know, fulfilling my desires, filling my life with the luxuries and pleasures that I want. And God comes to a people in that condition and says, you need to consider your ways. How you lived this past week,

That's how you live your life. The things that you said no to this week, those are the things that you say no to, generally speaking, in your life. And the things that you said yes to this week, those are the things that you say yes to. The things that you had scheduled and the things that interrupted your schedule, those are the things that will continue to be scheduled and to interrupt your schedule. It is the way that you live your life.

Now, it's important to note that there was a legitimate time for them to not build the temple. When the word came down from the authorities over them, you need to stop building the temple. They were forced to stop. And that really wasn't a problem, unless God told them to disobey those authorities, which we don't have any record of that. So there was a legitimate time for them to stop building the temple. The real problem was that they never started again. They started off good. Something interrupted them.

And then they never went back to it. Has that ever happened to you? Maybe that's why we really want the three-minute diet, right? You start off good, you get on this plan, you change your life, and then you go on vacation. Totally interrupts your whole routine. You come back from vacation, and you never go back to that same pattern again of eating good. And you know, like, oh, we know what that's like, don't we? There was a legitimate time where they were not to build.

The problem was they got stuck in that place. And for 14 years, they've just carried on. It's not time to build. It's not time to build. Meanwhile, at some point along the way, God's been saying to them, it's time to build the temple. And they've been missing it, but they haven't been considering their ways. I think it's also important to note, God doesn't say, consider your intentions. Consider your intentions. Consider your hopes. That's not what the Lord says.

I think if we would have pulled any one of these guys at random, you know, so Haggai's there addressing the children of Israel. We just grab one out of the crowd and say, hey, do you think it's important to build the temple? I'm pretty confident. They would have said, oh yes, absolutely. It's really important. Is it a high priority? Oh yes, really high priority. It's really important. We really want it. We wish we could do it. We wish it was done. We wish it was there. It's just not time. First, I need to fill in the blank. Okay.

It's really important to me. I really want it. I mean, I love God. I want to be able to come to this place of worship. But first I need to, it's a common situation for all of us. Pastor Thomas Constable says it this way. He says, he rhetorically asked if it was proper for them to build their own houses, but not rebuild his. They should have put the glory of their God ahead of their own comfort. Their priorities were upside down.

Many times our priorities can be upside down, putting our comfort and what we want ahead of what God wants. But while that's going on, while our priorities are upside down, we are living in this fantasy in our own mind, thinking that our priorities are exactly what they need to be. And we could say, oh, God is first in my life, and I love God, and He's the priority. Meanwhile, God's speaking to us, and we're saying, oh, it's not time for that.

It's not time for that. I don't have time for that. I can't do that. We think in our minds that our priorities are in line with what the Lord is calling us to, but we're living in a fantasy sometimes, completely delusional.

excusing ourselves as we look back at the past week and say, well, that was an exception. You know, well, yes, yes. I mean, yeah. I mean, last week was rough. I realized, yeah, I didn't really spend much time with the Lord last week and I didn't really, you know, reach out the way I, you know, I normally would and all of that. And we look at last week as the exception and it becomes the rule because we never really consider, we never really consider our ways.

I've been there. I'm sure you've been there. And we know people who are there in that place who say, I love God and I love his word. I just didn't have time to read it this week. And that becomes then this month and that becomes then this year. And all the while I'm convinced I love God and I love his word, but I just don't have time to

I love prayer. I think prayer is so important. It's such a priority. I just don't have time to pray. I mean, I will. I hope to. I have great intentions. I'm going to do it one day, but I just couldn't do it this fast, you know? And we excuse ourselves and we continue that fantasy and that delusion in our minds as we get caught up in our routines and we neglect to consider our ways. Now, again, there are legitimate reasons where your spiritual life can be disrupted, right?

where things in your life and good things as well as bad things in your life can be interrupted. But the problem is that then that continues and becomes the new normal. Again, they were forced to stop building and that wasn't so much the issue. The issue was they never went back to it. God's been speaking to them. He'll tell them that very clearly in the next few verses. God's been speaking to them

but they haven't been listening and allowing God to redirect them. You need to consider how you spend your time. Consider the decisions that you're making and whether or not they align with what God wants for you. How you live this week is how you live your life. Are you doing things that God wants you to stop doing? And have you stopped doing things that God wants you to start up again? Or is there something new that God wants to do? We need to consider our ways.

Well, going along with that, as we go on now, verses 5 through 11, point number two is consider how satisfied you are. To help us think about how maybe we've been stuck in a routine, maybe we've been stuck in some things that are not God's will for us, God gives some examples for the children of Israel in verses 5 through 11. Let's just look at the first few verses here. Verse 5 says, Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, consider your ways. You have sown much and bring in little. You eat little.

God makes it very clear here. I want you to stop and think about how unsatisfied you are. And he goes on, he works his way through various aspects of life just to show that

In every aspect of your life, you are lacking. When it comes to finances, you're lacking. And it feels like your bank account has holes in it. You ever feel that way? It's like, I know I put money in there. Where did it go? But then also you go to have a meal and you eat, but man, I'm still hungry afterwards. And you drink, but man, I'm still thirsty. And you put on clothes, but man, I'm still cold. And in every aspect of your life, you're lacking. You're unsatisfied. You're unfulfilled. You're...

Another way to put it, perhaps, is just miserable. And God says, I want you to stop and think about how unsatisfied you are. This is really important to consider. Now, I always like to bring up, it's important to consider that when we experience lack, dissatisfaction, and these kinds of afflictions in our lives, sometimes it is God using those circumstances to get our attention and

But that's not always the case. And you can always look at the example of Job. There are righteous people who go through incredibly difficult seasons for no fault of their own. And it's not judgment or anything like that. It's just part of God's work in their life. So that's there. That's true. But here God is saying, I want you to think about what you're going through because I might be using the results that you're experiencing right now and the situations that you're facing to try to get your attention.

And God makes it clear. This is what I've been doing this to you guys. This lack that you're experiencing, that's me. I've been doing that to get your attention because you need to consider your ways. Thus says the Lord of hosts in verse seven, consider your ways. Stop and think, why am I so unsatisfied? Why am I so unsatisfied? Why is this lack so significant and severe in my life? And if you're like me or the rest of us, typically when we are unsatisfied, we're

We, well, we try harder then to be satisfied. Instead of stopping to consider our ways, we just try harder to meet that lack and to meet that need that we have. So you're working hard, but your career's not progressing the way that you hoped. Well, let me try working harder. What if I put in extra hours? What if I put in more effort? What if I do this more? It's not working the way it is. So what if I do it more, then maybe it'll work better.

Some people try to satisfy themselves with distractions, with substances, alcohol, drugs. Some will try other things like Star Wars. You know, it just depends on what we face. But when it doesn't work, well, let me try it more. And we take it to the next level.

When we're still unsatisfied, then maybe some will try to change it up. You know, I've lived a life of partying for a long time. It hasn't really satisfied. So let me clean up my life. Let me get to work. Let me establish myself. Let me get a family. And maybe then I'll be satisfied. And again, we kind of double our efforts. And the people who are working hard say, boy, this hasn't really worked out for me. Let me try partying. Let me just, you know, go distract myself and chase after those things. And then I'll be satisfied. And we end up being like the woman at the well. Remember her? John chapter 4?

Jesus meets up with this woman and she's been married five times. And the husband, or not the husband, but the guy that she's with right now, she's not married to. And this pattern has just continued. And she's went from guy to guy to guy to guy, unsatisfied the whole time.

trying harder, trying again, trying it over, doing it, you know, one more time. Okay, it's still not working, but keep on trying. And Jesus tells her, look, if you keep going back to that well, you're going to continue to thirst. You're still going to be unsatisfied. But if you drink the water that I give you, you will never thirst again. God tells his people here, he tells us this morning, consider your ways. Are you unsatisfied? Are you lacking? Are

Don't just try what you're doing and do it more and harder and, you know, or change it up and try something else. What is the Lord saying? God is perhaps wanting to get your attention because he has something for you and you've been missing it. You've had your head down and for the past 14 years, you've just been stuck in the routine, stuck in the rut, just pressing forward. And God says, things have changed. I want to do something different, something new. Verse nine, the Lord says, you looked for much, but indeed it came to little.

And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? Says the Lord of hosts. Because of my house that is in ruins. While every one of you runs, not walks, not meanders, runs. That's your priority. You run to your own house. Therefore, the heavens above you withhold the dew and the earth withholds its fruit. For I called for a drought on the land and mountains.

You're experiencing this lack across the board because God says, I've called for a drought because I've been speaking to you and you're not listening and I want to get your attention. It's what's best for you, for you to hear what I have for you. You need to consider how satisfied you are. There is the law that we find throughout the Bible. You reap what you sow. Are you familiar with that law?

Galatians chapter 6, verse 7 and 8. Now as you think about this law, you need to also think about and understand that this is not a law in the sense of no matter what you apply it to across the board, it comes true. This is a law specifically in regard to spiritual things. Paul goes on to say,

He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. This is a spiritual law. This is about you sowing and reaping in your relationship with the Lord, in your walk with the Lord, in what he has for you. Just because you sow a lot into your career doesn't mean you get an amazing career out of it. So it doesn't work that way. That law isn't applied no matter what you do.

But it is always applied in every case without exception in your relationship to God, in your response to what he is saying, and in your response to his word. Always applied without exception. It's a law. You will reap what you have sown. But the thing to think about reaping and sowing is that not only do you reap what you sow, but you reap more than you sow. If I take an apple seed and I plant it in the ground and I water it and cultivate it and watch it grow, do I get one apple back from that?

I don't just get one apple back from that. No, it grows, it produces a tree full of apples. And then after that, every season, it produces a tree full of apples. And then the next season, it produces a tree full of apples. And in the next season, it produces a tree full of apples. You reap what you sow. So when I plant an apple seed, I don't get lemons. But also when I plant an apple seed, I get abundance of apples.

Listen, when you sow to the things of God, when you hear from God and respond to him, you get the same thing that you gave. You know, you're sowing to the spirit. You reap from the spirit. There's a lot of people who try to sow to the flesh and reap from the spirit. It doesn't work. This is what Israel was trying. They were feeding themselves, building their own houses, focused on what they wanted and their comforts and their luxuries, but still wanting God's blessings and

And they've been lacking. They've been unfulfilled. They've been reaping what they have sown. It's the way that God works. You will reap what you sow. You'll reap more than you sow. And you'll reap for longer than you sow. Again, that apple seed will produce fruit for many years to come. As you go back to this past week, those decisions that you made this week, the activities that you were involved in, the behavior that you exhibited, that

The things that you did this week, you've sown a lot of seed. And the fruit of that is going to be coming in for many weeks and years and months to come. How satisfied are you going to be with that fruit? Is that the kind of life that you want? The fruit of, do you want last week only a whole lot more for a whole lot longer? Is that what you want? That's the way that sowing and reaping works.

And as you look forward to this coming week, think about and consider your ways because what you sow this week, you're going to be reaping the results of that for weeks and months to come. Sometimes, you know, people find themselves in a situation completely shocked. Like, I don't know why my marriage is a wreck. And it's not like, you know, Saturday, something just changed and all of a sudden my marriage is a wreck. No, your marriage is a wreck because for weeks and months and years prior to, you've been sowing the seeds, right?

reaping the results now. How satisfied are you with your marriage? How satisfied are you with your career, with your relationship with God, with your involvement in the things of the kingdom of God? How satisfied are you in life? God says you need to stop and think about that because, well, sometimes I withhold, I bring the drought to get your attention so that you think about what are you sowing because, well, you're not liking the results of

You're not liking the reaping from the seeds that you've sown. And God is saying, I'm using that to get your attention to help you sow better seeds so that you get better results in the future. And he tells him how to resolve it in verse 8. Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the Lord. Here's how you can fix it. Here's how you can begin to make things right. Go get wood and start building the temple. If you're not satisfied, you're unfulfilled, you're miserable,

You need to consider you are reaping what you've sown, but you don't have to be stuck there. You have now the opportunity to listen to God and

And put him first. And that brings us really to point number three, and that is consider obeying God right now. This is picking up here on verse 8, but then jumping down to verse 12. Again, verse 8 says, Notice this.

Here in Haggai, we see really good results right away. Haggai brings forth the word, the message. You need to think about where you are. You're experiencing this lack because you haven't been doing what God's called you to do.

But you can start to make things right by starting right now. Go get wood and build the temple. And what do the people do? They go get wood and they start building the temple. Right away, immediately, they begin to work and the people obeyed the Lord. And the cool thing about that in verse 13 is God sends Haggai back. Like they go get wood, they're on their way back and Haggai meets him and says, hey, God told me to tell you I'm with you.

I'm with you. Good job starting to obey the Lord. There's a process ahead of you. You know, there's a road ahead of you. And some of the things that God calls you to are difficult. But it's a great encouragement to know that as you immediately begin to obey the Lord, God says, I am with you. There's that old saying, no matter how far you run from God, how far back is he? One step. You just turn around and God is there. As soon as you begin to obey, God says, I'm with you.

And what I've called you to might be challenging or scary or crazy, but I'm with you. I want you to know I'm with you. And so he encouraged the people. It's amazing. As soon as you respond to God, he says, look, I'm right here with you. Just moments prior, I was against you. I was bringing drought. But now as you respond to what I'm speaking to you, I'm with you. I got your back. I'm going to take care of you through this. I'm going to be with you through the things that you face. Verse 14 says,

So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God. Notice the sequence. They were lacking. God spoke. The people obeyed. And then God stirred up the spirit. It's an interesting order. They were lacking. They were lacking.

God spoke, they obeyed, and then the Lord stirred up their spirit. This helps us to understand when they began to obey, they weren't necessarily excited about it. They weren't whistling up to the mountain, let's go get wood to build the temple. They weren't fired up about it. They weren't excited about it. They didn't like, this is the best idea ever. I've always wanted to get wood to build the temple. That was not how they felt about it, but they obeyed. And when they obeyed,

as they obeyed, then God says, I'm with you. And he begins to work within them to get them fired up and excited and passionate about the thing that he has called them to. This is really important because so many times we're waiting for that feeling to be there before we obey. And God says, obey.

Here's what you need. Here's what's best for you. Here's what I've called you to. Now do that, whether you like it or not, whether you're scared about it or not, whether you're excited about it or not, whether it's your favorite thing in the world or not. Do what I'm calling you to do. God says, I'm with you when you do that, even if it's the thing that you last wanted to do, but I'm with you. And then God will begin to stir up the spirit. And he begins to give us a passion for the things that he's called us to consider obeying God right now.

Consider just dropping everything. And I don't mean like, you know, obligations that God has called you to, but putting God first, giving him priority. As you look back at this past week, is that what you have done this past week? You've obeyed God right now. You've put his instruction and his calling above everything else. That's how you live your life, the way that you live this past week. Are you not doing things that God wants you to do?

Or are you doing things that God wants you to stop doing? Consider your ways, the Lord says. Well, let's finish it up in Haggai chapter 2 with point number 4, and that is consider the timing of God's blessing. As the people begin to work, and they get the wood, and they start the process, God says, I'm with you. He stirs up their spirit, but they begin to get discouraged again because they're not seeing results right away.

Verse 10 tells us, on the 24th day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius...

I'm not totally sure I said the right verse. Verse 10. If you're not there, you can look at verse 10. So on the 24th day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet saying, and he's going to go on to give a little illustration and to talk to the people about the priests and how that works with ceremonially clean and unclean thing. But let me just kind of boil down the essence. The essence is, hey, we've been doing this work and we're not seeing a lot of results.

What's going on? How come we're not seeing a lot of results? And there was this perplexion. There was this concern because, I mean, we were lacking before. We started to obey, but we're still lacking. How is it that we're still lacking when now we are being obedient? And verse, jumping to verse 15, God says, and now carefully consider from this day forward, from before stone was laid upon stone in the temple of the Lord.

Since those days when one came to a heap of 20 ephahs, there were but 10. And when one came to a wine vat to draw out 50 baths from the press, there were but 20. I struck you with blight and mildew and hail and all the labors of your hands, yet you did not turn to me, says the Lord. Verse 18. Consider now, from this day forward, from the 24th day of the ninth month, from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it.

Is the seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yet yielded fruit. But from this day I will bless you. This message from Haggai, well from the Lord through Haggai, comes 63 days after they began rebuilding the temple again. And for 63 days they've been doing the work, they've been hard at work, they've been sweating, they've been laboring, they've been

investing in building the house of the Lord, but concerned because they're not really seeing results. And now God sends Haggai and says, I want you to consider from this day forward, I will bless you. I'm going to bless you. But you need to think about, you need to consider the timing of God's blessings. Again, going back to the title, results are delayed. We don't see the results right away. There's a delay between the obedience and the blessings.

You know, some people in the world around us get caught up in get-rich-quick schemes. We have our own version of that as Christians. We have get-righteous-quick schemes. And people who've been, you know, not living right, not doing relationship with the Lord as He's called us to, not walking with the Lord, well...

There's this mentality, okay, I've been failing, I've been falling, I've been faltering, I've been wayward. Now let me make up for it. And, you know, some dramatic thing, some thing of our imagination, some, I'm going to do this, and some, you know, strong commitment or big vow, or, you know, there's, and it's like, I'm going to get righteous quick. Now, there is a way to get righteous quick. It's called repentance, right?

And it's not about you making something right or doing something right or being really determined. It's about you acknowledging your lack, your failure, your sinfulness before God and looking for his grace and mercy to satisfy the need. And that gets you righteous quick, but it doesn't give to the blessings of a righteous life quick. And you know how you get the blessings of a righteous life? By living a righteous life for a long time.

It doesn't happen instantly. Again, I wish I could do the three-minute diet. I wish I could just decide, okay, I'm going to be walking with you, Lord, and then boom, my life is just like righteous glory. I'm living the life of Abraham, you know, just like everything's by faith and everything's glorious and great and God's providing and I have so much stuff I have to separate with Lot because I just, there's too much abundance. It doesn't come in that way.

Here are God's people responding to what God said. They're still lacking for 63 days. And then God says, from this day forward, stop and consider this day and from here on out. But if you'll think about this with me, as God lays this out in verse 19, he says, is there seed still in the barn? As yet the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have not yielded fruit. But from this day, I will bless you. So here they are working hard, not seeing results, 63 days in,

The prophet comes on the scene and he doesn't say, hey, go back and check your barn. Look, it's full of grain. That's not what happens. 63 days in, God says, next season, I'm going to bless you. When you bring in the crop next time, it's going to be blessed. It wasn't 63 days of waiting and then, okay, it's all over. It's 63 days of waiting and God says, look forward to the blessing. I'm going to bless you. Hang on.

You've got to hang on a little bit longer. In the next season, the fruit's going to come in. It is going to come in because God's promise is you will reap what you have sown. You've been sowing to the Spirit. You've been doing what God's called you to do. Good job. Don't get discouraged when you don't see the results and the blessings right away. It might be 63 days before you get the encouragement from God to tell you to keep waiting for the future blessings that He's promising. There's going to be some time. It's not overnight. It's not instant.

It will be in the next season. The results are delayed. And I would point out that the results are delayed both ways. Disobeying God and not walking in his calling. Well, if the results were not delayed, some of you right here this morning would be struck by lightning right now. Not me, but some of you guys. The results are delayed. God doesn't instantly act on everything. That's with obedience as well as disobedience. And that's where they're at. Now, if they had stopped building the temple...

And then, boom, God brought on all this drought and everything that day. And I was like, boom. You know, I stopped building on the temple. I went home and the fridge was empty. What happened? And then I went back and I started to build the temple. I went back home and the fridge was full. You know, like, wow, instant results. It doesn't work that way. So many times that we do that, right? We look, okay, I read my Bible today. And then I look at my day. Okay, where's the blessings today? Because I read my Bible this morning.

That doesn't work that way. No, you read your Bible, spend time with God, walk with him, and do it every day for 63 days, and God will say, the blessing's coming. Hold on, keep on doing it. You know, the way the farmer gets to benefit from the crop is not by plowing and sowing and watering and watching it all grow and then burn it down. Listen, if you burn down your field, you don't get the fruit of it. If you give up before you get to the harvest, you miss out on the fruit of all of that labor.

You got to hold on. You got to continue to walk in the will of God and the calling of God. Consider the timing of God's blessings. It takes time and you got to hold on a little bit longer. He's going to bring in the results of your faithfulness to him, of your walking with him. Don't get discouraged when you don't see those results instantly. God's not done. And in his timing, you will reap what you have sown. Let's pray. Lord, this morning, as we consider your word.

Through the prophet Haggai, Lord, it's a word that we need to hear because we can easily get caught up like Israel in our routines, in this pattern of, well, it's not time for that. And maybe it wasn't time for that a while back. But Lord, now you're speaking to us and you're desiring to do something new.

You're desiring to restart something old or to go in a new direction. You're desiring to shut down things that were going before. You want to speak and do new things. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to stop and consider our ways. Lord, that we might hear from you about what you want in the decisions that we make, in the life that we live, in the actions that we take, in the relationships that we have with one another. Lord, I pray that you would speak to each and every one of us. You have a calling for us.

You have your will and your plans set before us. Help us, Lord, to take the time to hear from you that we might walk in them. And God, I pray as we do that you would help us to not give up when we don't see the results right away. But Lord, help us to trust you enough to walk by faith and not by sight, to continue to be obedient to you, even when it gets difficult, even when it gets tough. Lord, that we would press on and persevere to experience the fruit that you promise.

to those who walk with you. God, I pray, give us strength. Give us encouragement. Send us Haggai's to remind us to hold on a little bit longer. You want to work in our lives. You want to bless us. And so, Lord, help us to respond as you call out, as you speak to us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

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