Obedience, the Key to Blessings
Haggai 1:9-13
9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”
The People Obey the LORD
12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD. 13Then Haggai, the messenger of the LORD, spoke to the people with the LORD’s message, ”I am with you, declares the LORD.”
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This hits home for a lot of us. Far too many times we expect to be blessed yet we are not in line with obedience. I know that God is Sovereign and will do as He pleases, but one of the ways we know that blessings will come is through obedience. I love how the heading prior to verse 12 says “The People Obey the LORD.” Prior to this they were living a life that was not obeying God, yet expecting things to happen. I find it very beautiful in verse 10 when it mentions heaven has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. Disobedience holds back both spiritual and physical blessing
As Christ followers we need to be more concerned about building God’s “house” then being concerned about our own agendas. Knowing that God intends the best to be brought out out of all of us, does it not seem right that we lay down our plans knowing that His are better. I have the tendency to see through the things I want to do; to see my plans unfold in my head, even at times unfold before my eyes. Its scary to listen to God sometimes, what He wants may sometimes seem impossible for us to conjure, but in light of that He sees that we can do it. I believe that disobedience comes into play when we lose the belief in God, and the thoughts of greatness(no difference of scale) that He has for us; when we see ourselves as less of what we are created for. Here we find less and here we find ourselves straying from destiny just trying to stay afloat on what we can do, rather than what God can do through us. Choice is beautiful but it births options that can sometimes delay, disobey, or make great the plans that are set out for us…
