3‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? – Haggai 2:3 (NIV)
Ever known someone who still loves to talk about their glory days? Usually, those days are from high school. You know, when they played football and scored four touchdowns in a single game against their crosstown rival. And as they replay the scene out loud once again, they remind you that they scored the winning touchdown against their arch nemesis, “Spare Tire” Dixon.
As you suffer through their diatribe for the countless time, you can’t help but think, man, that was 30 years ago! Has nothing else happened in your life since then? How much longer are you going to be stuck in the past?
See, when we continue to live our lives and look at things through the lens of former glory, we miss out on the present glory in front of us and the future glory that is to come. And this is where we find the people who are receiving this message from the Lord through the prophet, Haggai. As they begin to rebuild the Temple, they can’t even imagine God would do something greater than He did when King Solomon built the first one. Surely, that was the peak of all existence, and nothing could ever top it. All that’s left to do now is remember how awesome that was and just exist until we die.
And so, as they clear away debris and begin laying new stones, their backwards mindset has them already thinking that what has been behind them is better than the opportunity right in front of them. Because they’re still living in the glory days of their past, they’re completely missing out that God’s presence – the very presence that’s been missing for some time – is with them and among them. Because their mindset is still stuck in reverse, they don’t see the privilege they have to be on the building crew of the brand-new thing that the Lord wants to do. It’s their infatuation with the good old days that’s causing them to be blind to the fact that God is using them right now to leave a legacy that will impact a little place called Lincoln, Nebraska in 2026.
We’re participating in “21 Days of Prayer and Fasting” in order that the Lord will meet us where we are to move us forward. Not to get us back to some glory day version of ourselves, but a revived, transformed, brand-new creation in Him. Not to be a church that brings back the 1950’s, or even the 1850’s, but a body of believers who accomplish far more than we could ever ask or imagine because we have the power and presence of Christ Jesus in us.
He’s moving us forward because the best is yet to come!