Not the Right Time

"These people say, 'The time has not yet come for the Lord's house to be built.' ... Is it time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin? ... Give careful thought to your ways.  You have planted much but harvested little" (Haggai 1: 2-6).

I came across this passage today in reading a book called Made to Crave: Satisfying your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food by Lysa TerKeurst.  She was looking at this passage in relation to living a healthy lifestyle--treating your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit (that idea based on 1 Corinthians 6:19).  She wrote that we are often full of excuses about timing before starting to make changes in our lives. 

For me, major life transitions uproot my routine and my intentions each time--whether a move, job change, marriage, having a child.  Hmmm...now that I think about it, it seems even little life transitions can topple the routine (illness, holidays, vacations). 

Knowing that things are going to come up, how can we make lasting changes in different areas of our lives, whether physical, spiritual, mental, financial, or relational?

The above passage from Haggai continues:
"Give careful thought to your ways.  Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored" (Haggai 1:7-8).

Not only does this Scripture call for self-reflection, but it calls for major effort and work. Before even starting the building process (which we know takes time), we are to climb a mountain and haul down timber! This doesn't sound like a quick 911 phone call or prayer.  How can we gear up?  How can we not feel discouraged before even starting?

I am reminded that in building a huge building, construction workers use scaffolding.  To me, this image of a structure to help the building process is useful.  I think creating structure--even a temporary one--helps me get back into building my life in the direction I want it to go.  That structure can include the accountability of friends or other people; or it could include the structure of time or space to think and plan and act.  But whatever it is, a scaffold can help focus the building project.

But perhaps the most significant way to press on in the face of a huge personal goal is to focus on the spiritual aspect of the goal, the thought of building a house that honors the Lord.

TerKeurst also quoted this verse:
"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26).