Stop and Think

Haggai 1:7 ESV

Thus says the Lord of Hosts: Consider your ways.

The steady drum of the road underneath helped to mellow our conversations. The middle seat was taken out which provided extra spacing between us and the kids. Once again, our discussion turned to the child that gives us the most concern. He had been struggling over Christmas. The extra sugar, extra toys, staying up late, and three dogs under two years, all seemed to contribute to a rather difficult few days at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. A long car ride seems to help the mind turn as miles turn into hours. The slow, steady, beat of concrete seems to help keep the mind moving without losing traction.

The book of Haggai is written by the prophet to encourage the nation to build the Temple now that they have returned to the Land of Promise. They had been in it a few years; they had built homes, sown fields and reaped them, and yet they weren’t getting anywhere, if anything they were falling behind. There never seemed to be enough and they were always in want. The prophet points to this and brings his message from the Lord, “Consider your ways….”  He says this because it is easy to fall into insanity. One of the famous definitions of insane is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. To help avoid this it is good to look and see what has been done and what has happened. To “consider your ways” falls well in with the repeated command of scripture to “remember”. Things have happened and God has moved, do you remember your lessons, did you meditate and understand the meaning of what has occurred?

Our end is coming to a year, or maybe it is better to say our year is coming to an end. As this year draws to an end and our end is one year closer, how are you doing with the tasks you have been given to do? One of the tremendous tasks given to parents is to raise children in “the fear and admonish of the LORD” (Eph 6:4). As we evaluated our year's work running down the road home, it was easy to get lost in the frustrations of another holiday of our son getting in trouble. Then we truly considered our ways. This last year we have gone on multiple dates, and left with only our oldest child in charge. This was not possible the previous year. Not because of her age but his listening. Now he listens. For all the frustrations that come from having to take a child out of church, this is not multiple times a Sunday any longer, nor is it even once a month, it is only occasionally bad. Asking Kelly how the sermon went no longer gives the eye roll because she could not catch a word, but occasionally an eye roll because she actually heard my attempt at humor! It is still hard and even heart breaking on occasion, but it is getting better.

The passage from Haggai is one directly to those who are so busy they aren’t doing the tasks God has assigned to them, and they are blind to their plight. Yet, the solution to the problem is also good for those that are overwhelmed by the task they are doing, but they don’t feel they are getting anywhere. “Consider your ways” says the LORD, and we should heed that word. The year is coming to an end and a new one is about to begin, another loop around the sun completed. For those that are giving way to the frustration of getting nowhere, and looking at a year of more and the same, “consider your ways”, is it true or are you ignoring how God has moved and brought you forward. For those like Israel, are you blindly going into another losing cycle, “consider your ways”. As we end one year of service and prepare for another, let us faithfully consider our ways, that we may serve Coram Deo (Before the face of God).

Coram Deo