14 So the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the Lord Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month. – Haggai 1:14-15 (NIV)
One of the first things my boys ever learned to cook on their own was Kraft macaroni and cheese. They knew how to get the water boiling, strain the macaroni noodles, and get all the other ingredients measured out and put into the pot. But once all of that was accomplished, the real work started. They had to stir. And then they had to stir some more. Stirring and stirring until they thought their little arms would fall off, or until all the powdered cheese clumps had been thoroughly dissolved – whichever occurred first.
Once the people Haggai is delivering the Lord’s message to responded with repentance and obedience, the real work still needed to be done. God wanted them to get to work rebuilding the Temple. And it was his desire for them to accomplish this monumental task that led Him to stir their hearts.
See, stirring is action. Stirring involves movement, effort, and energy.
Stirring is what actually makes something. Without stirring, all you have is a bunch of ingredients in a pot…sitting there…waiting…not yet becoming what they’re supposed to be.
And so, by His grace, God stirred the hearts of the people so that His will would be accomplished not just in them, but through them. It was this gracious stirring that awakened them out of their sleep. It was God’s stirring that revived them out of the state of apathy they’d been in for almost 15 years.
Do you need stirred out of sleep? Do you need stirred out of idleness, laziness and procrastination? Do you need the grace of God to meet you where you are and stir your heart so that you’re not just a listener to the Word of God, but that you actually do what it says?
Hearing isn’t enough. Conviction isn’t enough. Active obedience is the only proper response to God. Will you invite Him to stir your heart today?