“Well, that was a waste of money”. Been there, said that. I imagine that most people out there have said something like this at one time or another. You buy something and it just doesn’t work or you try doing things a new way and fail miserably. Maybe you take someone’s advice and the result is disaster.
When things like this happen, I ask myself: What am I doing wrong? And unfortunately the answer is often within me. I didn’t take the time to research or read the directions thoroughly enough (something I do all too often), or take my time to do it right. Oftentimes, failure occurs when I am in a hurry or upset with someone.
But, what happens, when I fail at something, but I think that I did EVERYTHING RIGHT? Could there be another reason? The book of Haggai has an answer…
Haggai 1 ( World English Bible )
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, to Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying,
2 “This is what Yahweh of Armies says: These people say, ‘The time hasn’t yet come, the time for Yahweh’s house to be built.’”
3 Then Yahweh’s word came by Haggai, the prophet, saying,
4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies waste?
5 Now therefore this is what Yahweh of Armies says: Consider your ways.
6 You have sown much, and bring in little. You eat, but you don’t have enough. You drink, but you aren’t filled with drink. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm, and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes in it.”
7 This is what Yahweh of Armies says: “Consider your ways.
8 Go up to the mountain, bring wood, and build the house. I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified,” says Yahweh.
9 “You looked for much, and, behold, * it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says Yahweh of Armies, “Because of my house that lies waste, while each of you is busy with his own house.
10 Therefore for your sake the heavens withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit.
11 I called for a drought on the land, on the mountains, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on that which the ground produces, on men, on livestock, and on all the labor of the hands.”
“Consider your ways”; now this can be a hard thing to hear. When, I fail at something, this hard statement may just be what I need to hear. Now, the above Scripture is quite specific to the Jews and their failure to glorify God by rebuilding the temple in order glorify and worship God, but there is a principle that can apply to us as well. When things go wrong, perhaps God is trying to tell me that I am not putting HIM FIRST?
Is God first in my life; if not…
Consider your ways
And this means, you – Gary! And if it applies to me, then it probably does to others as well!
P.S. That little porcupine should have thought a little more about what he was trying to do. Quills break bubbles! Do what a porcupine can do! Get the point?