6 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 1:6 (NIV)
200 plus channels on cable or satellite. 4000 plus movies available on your favorite streaming service. Major grocery store chains and warehouse clubs all over our city. And every book, gadget, and article of clothing we could ever think of at our fingertips – guaranteed to arrive in 2 days.
And yet, it’s not enough. It doesn’t truly satisfy. We still crave more.
Like a drunken addiction, there’s never enough to consume that will appease our intense desire for what we believe will finally bring joy, peace, happiness, and meaning to our lives. And yet we continue to exhaust our efforts and empty our bank accounts believing it will work the next time.
Could it be that the Lord is using His prophet, Haggai, to speak to us right now to describe what James Boice called, “…the feverish yet ineffective activity of our own age?” If the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again expecting different results, then could it be that this pointed message from the Lord is an act of love and grace showcasing His desire to rescue us from the madness and absurdity in which we’ve placed ourselves?
What if during this time of prayer and fasting you stopped feasting on the futility of this world and instead chose to taste and see that the Lord is the One who is satisfyingly good? What if your frustration and disappointment with the results you’ve been getting are the very things the Lord is trying to use to get your attention and call you back to Him?