What are You Waiting For? Part 1

Today I want to ask you a very simple question.

A dangerous question.

A revealing question.

“What are you waiting for?”

Well, with regrads to what?

“What are you waiting for before you continue the work of the kingdom in your life?”

I am actually NOT the one asking this question.

God is asking the question!

In the book of Haggai, the work of the kingdom that was once going along quite nicley, had come to a grinding halt.

The temple remained unfinished. The house of God remained neglected.

And God wants to know why.

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Under the New Covenant, the house of God is no longer merely a building of stone.

We are the temple of God. The people of God are His house.

Which means the “work of the kingdom” now in your and my life primarily refers to our Obedience, Sanctification and Growth.

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So let me ask the questions again:

What are you waiting for before:

You deal with that sin?

Rebuild your prayer life?

Return to obedience?

Pursue holiness seriously?

Reconcile?

Serve?

Forgive?

Begin growing again?

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NB:

The people Haggi are speaking to are not in any kind of rebellion against God.

Its not even a issue with being lazy!

Listen:

Just like you and the areas of your life:

These people KNEW that the work had to begin.

These people sincerly WANTED the work to begin.

These people are totally WILLING to start the work!

Yet for over 16 years absolutly no work had been done.

WHY?

The Work Came To An Abrupt Stop.

Haggai 1:2 NASB 2020

2 “This is what the Lord of armies says: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.” ’ ”

Now notice carefully what they are saying.

They do not say:

We dont want to work. Its not important work.

They simply say:

“Not yet.”

And “not yet” became sixteen years.

This is the terrifying power of delay.

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I asked:

You deal with that sin?

Rebuild your prayer life?

Return to obedience?

Pursue holiness seriously?

Reconcile?

Serve?

Forgive?

Begin growing again?

And i already know you answer:

Tomorrow.

Next week Monday.

At the Start of the New Month.

When my new bible arrives from Takealot.

NB:

You know you HAVE to start!

And you really WANT to start!

And You definatly WILL start!

But just not today...

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That is not true. How do I know? Because if you do know how important it is amd if you really were going to start - You would have started already.

So again: Why havent you started?

Why Did The Work Stop?

The reason the work stopped here in Haggi is the same reason the work has stopped in your own life:

Fear.

The people were afraid.

But understand there are different kinds of fear.

The fear they experienced and the fear that is preventing you is not “cowardice” type fear, but “paralysis” type fear.

Fear says:

“I will get around to it, I just need a little more time.”

Fear says:

“Once life settles down I’ll be able to get more involved.”

Fear says:

“Tomorrow... Next week… I’ll start”

So Our question has evolved:

What Are You Afraid Of?

The Fear of Insufficency.

Solomons Temple had been absolutly detroyed band the people all driven out.

A truly national Calamity!

The Temple was the centre of the whole Nation and it was gone!

God however had been gracious.

He brought them back home and comissioned them to build a new temple.

This was cause for great celabration and it was!

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Ezra 3:11 NASB 2020

And they sang, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His favor is upon Israel forever.” And all the people shouted with a great shout of joy when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

BUT

Ezra 3:12 NASB 2020

Yet many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ households, the old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy,

Chalk Outline...

Oh sweet, they are crying tears of joy because the temple is being rebuilt!

No!

They were crying because this new temple would not come close to the scale, beauty and grandure of the one Solomonm built.

Haggai 2:3 NASB 2020

3 ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? Does it not seem to you like nothing in comparison?

They compared what they could do to Solomon’s temple… And what they could do looked pathetic in comparison.

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That verse explains the paralysis of the people.

They looked at what they could build… And all they concluded that if this is all we are actually capable of then whats the point?

“Comparison made obedience feel pointless.”

And many believers live there today.

“If I cannot pray greatly, 5 times every day - why pray?” “If I cannot serve powerfully in a position of high leadership - why serve?” “If I cannot rebuild perfectly without failure and mistakes - why rebuild at all?”

So instead of building imperfectly… We postpone indefinitely.

Because we cannot do a perfect or even great work we chose then to do no work!

But As Matthew Henry said:

“Say not that the former works were greater than the latter, but thank God that there is any good done in days as evil as they are!”

3. The Tradgey of the “I’ll Start Building When...” Paralaysis.

Now listen carefully:

The people fully intended to rebuild.

Eventually.

That is what makes this so dangerous.

Because tomorrow is one of the most deceptive idols in the human heart.

Tomorrow comforts us without requiring obedience today.

Tomorrow allows us to really be willing… Without actually becoming obedient.

And many believers live in spiritual almostness.

“Tomorrow I’ll pray.” “Tomorrow I’ll repent.” “Tomorrow I’ll fix this.” “Tomorrow I’ll become serious.” “Tomorrow I’ll rebuild my walk with God.”

But tomorrow never seems to arrive.

And eventually the believer becomes trapped in perpetual preparation.

Always preparing. Never participating.

Always getting ready to live. Never actually living.

How to Know if the Work has Stalled

How do we know if the work is actually just delayed or if the work has actually stalled?

Delays are prat of the process and are bcompletly normal.

Stalls are the big problem.

How do we know if we have stalled?

God has porovided a way to get our attention.

Its not a punishment, its an alarm.

What God revealed to the people in Haggi is exacally what you and I will also experience if the work stalls:

Haggai 1:5–6 NASB 2020

5 Now then, the Lord of armies says this: “Consider your ways! 6 You have sown much, only to harvest little; you eat, but there is not enough to be satisfied; you drink, but there is not enough to become drunk; you put on clothing, but there is not enough for anyone to get warm; and the one who earns, earns wages to put into a money bag full of holes.”

This is one of the most profound descriptions of spiritual emptiness in Scripture.

Look at the pattern:

Eating without fullness.

Drinking without satisfaction.

Labor without fulfillment.

Money disappearing through holes in the bag.

The issue is not poverty.

They have plenty of food. They have plenty of drink, they have more than enough money.

Circumstancualy they have all they need to live blessed, satisfied and even comfortable lives.

But everything feels empty.

Why?

Because they had abandoned the greater thing.

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Understand this carefully.

God is not punishing them.

He is helping them.

He is showing them and US that lesser things lose all meaning when the greater things are stalled.

Basically:

When we abandon the greater thingsof the Kingdom, the lesser things of the Earth will no longer satisfy you.

And many believers know this feeling.

Always consuming… Never full.

Always distracted… Never rested.

Always busy… Never fulfilled.

Life feels like a leaking bag.

And Haggai tells us why.

Perpetual preparation for the arrival of more suitable tomorrow, empties today of all meaning.

Consider Your Ways.

Twice God says:

Haggai 1:5 NASB 2020

5 Now then, the Lord of armies says this: “Consider your ways!

Haggai 1:7 NASB 2020

7 The Lord of armies says this: “Consider your ways!

Literally:

“Set your heart upon your paths.”

God is forcing them to stop and ask:

“Why does life feel empty?”

And perhaps today that is exactly what God is asking some believers.

Why are you spiritually dry? Why are you exhausted? Why does everything feel hollow?

Perhaps because the work has stalled.

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Now here is the good news.

God did not abandon these people.

He called them back.

And next time we are going to see something beautiful:

God never asked them to recreate Solomon’s glory.

He simply asked them to build faithfully in their generation.

Because many believers think:

“If my obedience cannot be impressive, it is not worth beginning.”

But God measures differently than we do.

And next time we are going to see that the answer to fear is not perfection.

The answer is:

“Just do the work.”

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“Tomorrow is stealing years from some believers.”

“Stop waiting for a perfect future version of yourself to obey God today.”

Let’s pray.