2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ” – Haggai 1:2 (NIV)
How often do you find yourself feeling like you just don’t have enough time in a day to get everything accomplished? You might even be able to quickly rattle off 5 or 6 things that are on the to-do list to prove it.
How often do we find ourselves coming to the end of the day or the end of the week feeling utterly exhausted from the chaos of it all, and yet, not even able to remember all the details of the whirlwind of activity that transpired. Even worse, we come to the realization our time with the Lord was completely forgotten and overlooked.
These people that Haggai is delivering God’s message to didn’t flat out reject God, they just put him in a small corner of their lives and told Him they would get back to Him later. You know, once things slow down a little bit. When the holidays are over. When summer vacation wraps up. When the kids are done with school and all their sports and band activities.
In a world that bombards us with demands for attention and provides us a plethora of distractions, how often are we doing the same? We don’t intentionally tell God to go away, but neither do we intentionally make time for Him before we load up our calendars with a flurry of activity.
How would your life change if you were intentional about scheduling time with God and for Him? How might your relationship with the Lord grow and develop because you actually put Him on your calendar – in the best spots with a no cancellation policy. Just maybe, the Lord wants to use this time of prayer and fasting with you to honestly evaluate where your time is being spent. Maybe He wants to come out of the corner and help you discover that putting Him first makes scheduling everything else in life a whole lot easier because you’ll gain a new perspective on what really matters.