Pastor Dillon starts a new series called ‘Swing for the Fences’, where he goes through the book of Haggai. This week we talk about two problems we face when waiting for the “perfect time” to obey God.
Swing for the Fences – Swing Away
Haggai 1:1-4 (NIV): In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.”
Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?”
Two Problems With Waiting for the Perfect Time to Obey God
Problem #1- The longer I wait to obey God the less likely it becomes that I ever will.
Problem #2- Delaying my obedience is disobedience and costs me the favor of God
Haggai 1:5-6 (NIV): Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”
Haggai 1:9-11 (NIV): “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”
Stop taking pitches and swing away: Do what God told you to.
Haggai 1:7-8 (NIV): This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord.
Obedience leads to God’s favor in our lives: His presence with us, His power working through us, and progress for us.
Haggai 1:12-15 (NIV): Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and 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. And the people feared the Lord. Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord. So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.
LifeSpring is a church that anyone, regardless of their background, can call home. We have weekly experiences at 1250 North Brightleaf Boulevard in Smithfield, NC.
We are #ForSmithfield.
Connect with us:
Website – https://lifespringnc.com
Facebook – https://facebook.com/lifespringnc/
Instagram – https://instagram.com/lifespring_nc/