Focusing on the "Littler Problem"

The Minor Prophets: Haggai
Insights I take from reading through the minor prophets

Focusing on the "Littler Problem"
A Lesson from Haggai
 
It was raining hard. Water was streaming down from the sky soaking all of Rochelle. But on our back deck, it was different, it was pouring. Where droplets steadily dropped like a blanket around our neighborhood on Woolf  Court, our back deck was getting soaked, so much so that the water started to seep in the house: the basement walls were getting wet and leaking through. Thinking quickly, I got our camping tarp, set up a couple of outdoor heavy chairs, and set up the tarp at a diagonal, so that the water drenching the back of our house would run down the tarp, away from the house, and safely in the back yard.  It worked. Kind of. The wind would blow hard and I'd have to re-setup the chairs. Altogether, it was just a wet mess. My father-in-law came over a day or two later and I told him about my predicament. He asked me why it was pouring so hard on the back deck and I said I didn't know. He got a tall ladder and took a peek at our roof: lo and behold, our house's gutters were stuffed with leaves. The autumn of yesteryear had completely clogged up our gutters, and instead of rain being safely sifted where we wanted it, it was just pouring down on our deck and into our home. I was trying to solve the problem by looking at the smaller thing (the rain) rather than the bigger thing (the cause of the rain: clogged gutters) and as I result, I was missing out. I wasn't paying attention to the greater problem. 

This is exactly what was happening during the time of the prophet Haggai. It was twenty years now that the Hebrews had returned to Judah from their troubling exile (from Babylon). Over the span of twenty years they had finally made themselves comfortable again with their luxurious homes & houses and they were trying to make a community for themselves ... but things weren't clicking. The Hebrews still had to pay dues as a Persian Vassal State, and on top of that they were getting drought after drought that was ravaging the land. What was the problem? As a result of this frustration, God's people began to be selfish for their time and resources. They were apathetic towards "religion" and God's provisions, all because of the amounting problems of drought. Haggai comes in the picture as a man with a message from God with a surprising message: The reason you're in trouble is because you're not paying attention to the bigger problem. Haggai says, "You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses" (Hagg 1:9).

The bigger problem was that they were neglecting God. They were focused on their small problems, their drought (or ironically for me, the rain), while the real problem in reality was that they neglected to have a focus of worship on God. While their houses were luxurious, God's house/temple lay in ruins. And just as I was so caught up in the rain to not notice that the gutters were the cause of the bad rain, so God's people were so caught up in the problems of drought that they failed to see the cause of the drought: a failure to worship God & build his temple.

I think this stuff happens to us, as Christians all the time.

• We're focused on the problem of a lack of money that the Church can spend when the bigger problem is our own heart's lack in tithing. 

• We're focused on the problem of not having a good staff or volunteers to work with, when the bigger problem is our own lack of a relationship with God that has affected our character/heart negatively, and has made us tough to work with.

• We're focused on the problem of a lack of numbers showing up to events, when the bigger problem is that we're looking at them as numbers instead of images of God we should be investing in personally and relationally. 

• We're focused on the problem of our own finances, our own fights, our own vendettas, and grudges, and disappointments and failures, cars not working right and mistakes being made ... and we don't realize that the root cause of all these problems could be God Himself, because He wants us to focus on Heaven & not ... here.

I can imagine the Hebrew peoples being peeved when they heard it was God Himself that kept their harvest from growing, that it was God Himself that caused the drought. But I bet it was humbling when they heard the reason: that they had neglected God entirely and were so focused on themselves that they had literally spent "zero" time on their relationship with God.

The Bible tells this story all over. Just because something bad is happening in your life doesn't mean God is mad at you (I mean, look at Job). But just because something bad is happening in your life, doesn't mean God's not mad at you either (look at Haggai). It very well could be that the bad stuff surrounding you, even the little problems, are stemming from the fact that you or I have neglected God. And before we just brush it off, we may need to have a heart-check and see where we're at in our relationship with Jesus. Because God is real and He will use multiple means to wake us up to spiritual renewal, even means that aren't so nice.

I myself, have hit some tough times lately. There's been some friends very close to me that I have been trying and trying to help them know Jesus and they have been so closed off, and so busy with their own things. And I've just felt like a complete failure and have broken down, asking God, "What are you doing?!" Because all I saw were all these little problems, of them not showing up here, and me not being able to talk with them here. And I did a heart-check and realized a bigger problem: that I've been putting their salvation, and their growing in their faith in my own hands, instead of God's. And I myself, wasn't trusting God with an ounce. Everything bad or good that was happening, I was taking the credit for, whether I said it out loud or not. And I realized when I was teaching in Sunday School about persistence and trusting God, that I was the one who really needed to hear that lesson. I was the one who needed to learn what it means to persevere and trust God even in trying circumstances.

Look at your own life. And think about it for a minute. In the chaos around you, are you focusing on the little problems? Are you focusing on the drought and the lack of water, when God is trying to tell you that the bigger problem is that you've neglected living for Him in some way? Don't throw out that notion. Really check your heart. Don't wait 20 years for a prophet to come in your life and tell you. Turn to God right now. He's listening.