A while ago I read Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin and was so encouraged. I found it so helpful in providing me with direction and focus as I tried to glean more and more information in the, sometimes short, amount of time I had to study. The greatest thing I took from this book, which I highly recommend, is that one of the best ways to read a text is to look closely at what that passage says about God. She really lays the bible out as the best biography we have of God and his character. The reason that is so important is found in the cavernous difference between our human hearts and God’s perfect heart. We cannot be imitators if we don’t actively try to discover what we are supposed to imitate. This perspective, in particular, has been so helpful to me in my study of the Old Testament, where themes can seem outdated and topics can feel dry. The symbolism is sometimes hard to grasp and the storylines can often feel irrelevant. Yet, by changing my reading to Him centered instead of me centered, I have found great wealth of resource. And no where, so far, has this been more helpful than in the book of Haggai.
I have four children who all have strong personalities to varying degrees. It makes parenting very challenging, especially since they don’t all respond to the same methods. Some days bedtime come and I wonder where my day went. One of my current frustrations involves Aleeda and our puppy. She gets that puppy so riled up, so excited, and then turns and tries to walk away. But he isn’t done playing and chases and nips and does puppy things. Aleeda literally collapses on the floor and starts screaming. No amount of instruction or intervention on my part helps her to better handle this situation. She experiences the struggle daily, but always fails to heed my advice. She is a “learn the hard way” type of kid. And this learn the hard way attitude is very similar to the pattern that is seen in the life of Israel throughout the Old Testament. God’s frustration is evident in many of the minor prophets. They are scathing and harsh and ugly in their predictions. They are all about punishment and judgement. Those are things I understand as a mom. I understand the righteous character of God in these books, a God who cannot co-exist with so much disobedience and sin. It is easy to see what those angry books say about God, about his love and patience and compassion and judgement. It is easy to see God the Father in those heavy and harsh books. Haggai kind of stumped me. Post- exile and Israel is re-building the city. They have started on their own houses, but not on the temple. They are not prospering and things are not really going as planned. Yes, they are home, but it isn’t really feeling too rosy and cosy. Enter Haggai. God is speaking to his people through this profit, telling them to get their priorities right, telling them to remember Him in their efforts. Reminding them that He is the source of goodness and if they fail to acknowledge that than He will see that they fail to prosper as a result. It isn’t a revolutionary idea and it is something that you would think Israel would know by that point. But it is the style of this book that really captured my attention. Gone is the harsh style. This is a God who is saying, five times in fact, give careful thought; essentially, remember where you have been and who has carried you through and blessed you again. Consider your choices. The scathing lists of sin and disobedience is not present. The Father wants his children to desperately and earnestly follow him again. This is a book full of compassionate language. It is a Father reasoning with and leading his children, encouraging them to use their logic and experiences as they make choices for the years to come. This is God responding with care to the hurts and brokenness of his beloved children. Like a parent after a particularly difficult moment of instruction, who approaches with compassion to help the wayward child see the right path.
It is so easy to take this book for the surface, me-message of “put God first,” but the deeper part is so much richer. It is a lesson in relationships when things get tough. It is the importance of compassion and care in leading and teaching. It is God the Father, bending to eye level to help the lesson take root. This is an Old Testament glimpse of the God of the Gospels; caring and loving and reaching and helping. And it is such a striking contrast to the harshness that led to the exile. A new piece of the infinite puzzle of God’s amazing character. This is what I need, to focus on these pieces of God so I know which direction to point my heart; so that my efforts may narrow the gap between God’s perfect heart and my dark one, ever closer until I get Home.
faith from the stove 