In yesterday’s post, The Effects of Priority, we saw that wrong priorities results in wrong results, whereas right priorities results in God’s blessings. It is, however, worth it to consider the timing of these events.
The prophecy is given on the first day of the sixth month. The people respond to it about three weeks later, on the 24th day of the sixth month, starting to rebuild God’s house. (Some might say that a delayed response is disobedience; however, a delayed response is better than no response.)
Then three months after reconstruction starts, on the 24th day of the ninth month, God promises to bless the people because of their obedience. Note a three month delay; the people did not receive an immediate blessing, but rather a delayed one.
It might be that God wanted to make sure they would follow through and take his work seriously. Or perhaps he was testing them. Would they continue to serve him and make him a priority even if he didn’t bless them?
What if they got discouraged and gave up after a week or a month? What if they stopped obeying him on the 23rd day of the ninth month? If so they would have missed his blessing.
I wonder if sometimes we give up too soon in obeying God. Do we do the right thing for a while, but not seeing any change, we revert to our old ways? If so, we may miss God’s blessings.
[See Haggai 1-2:23.]
A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.
