| Our Grip of the Center |
| Written by Millicent Guarin | ||||
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“The whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him.” Haggai 1:12 The Israelites are back to Jerusalem from their exile in Babylon. Once more, they are a free people. The horrors of war and their harrowing experience as prisoners of war can now be forgotten as they start to rebuild their lives. But there is a problem. No matter how hard they try, they fail. They do not succeed or progress. They constantly stumble. Even nature refuses to cooperate. The LORD tells them what is wrong. They all are preoccupied with their own business and have forgotten the LORD. His temple, the symbol of His presence, remains in ruin. The people are less concerned about rebuilding it. In fact, they think it impossible to reconstruct it. The stakes and demands are too high for them. He sends his prophet Haggai to rebuke them and amazingly, they all respond positively. Their fear of God prompts them to obey. They recognize His voice in Haggai and they obey. The narrative tells us to shun the culture of constraints and to live with the sense of the possible. It is possible to do great things with God. We do not lose the capacity to dream amidst hardships. It also tells us to strengthen our grip of our center and to participate in God’s work. For like the Israelites, we can be preoccupied with our individual business and neglect the work of God. We can be busy building our own empires, niches and careers and just “pay others” to do the Lord’s work by issuing them our donations and love gifts. Finally, Haggai teaches us that a single voice can be a stirring voice from God. As before, we need such a voice to point us our shortcomings. Like the Israelites, we also need to respond with immediate obedience.
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