Shortage of Funds – Or Shift in Focus
“Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!” Haggai 1:6b (NLT)
Does that describe your life lately? You just can’t seem to get ahead? You’re working hard, but there always seems to more bills left at the end of every pay check? Perhaps the problem is not a shortage of funds; but a shift in focus.
Over 2000 years ago people were facing the same dilemma, and God spoke to them through His prophet, Haggai, and said, “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!” (Haggai 1:4-6 NLT)
The problem was not a shortage of funding, but a shift in focus. When my focus shifts from building God’s house to building MY house, I will soon find myself in a downward spiral of discontent.
So the Lord sends this reminder: “I am with you, says the LORD!” (Haggai 1:13) And when we shift our focus to His presence, His plan, and focus on His will – not mine… building His house – not mine, the results are the same as they were over 2000 years ago: “So the LORD sparked the enthusiasm of… the whole remnant of God’s people.” (v. 14) And the promise is: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. (The Creator of the world is my source!) The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace.” (Haggai 2:8-9)
