"The Lord spoke His Word through the prophet Haggai" (Haggai 1:1). The
prophet is only the messenger. It is the Lord who speaks His Word. God's
Word challenges our way of thinking and our way of living. We say,
"Everything is okay." God says, "Everything is not okay." There is a
problem. God says to us, "Carefully consider your ways" (Haggai 1:5).
Our way of thinking and living is self-centred. It should be God-centred
(Haggai 1:4). When we respond to God's Word, He says to us, "I am with
you" (Haggai 1:13). We are not left to do the work in our own strength.
He gives us the strength that we need.
We read about Elijah in his high-points of strength - the triumph over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:36-39) - and his low-points of weakness - he is ready to give up: “I’ve had enough now, Lord” (1 Kings 19:4). How did Elijah get into such a mess? He forgot this: “The Lord’s power was on Elijah” (1 Kings 18:46). In all life’s ups and downs, we must hold on to this: The Lord has sent His Spirit of power to live in us (2 Timothy 1:7). How are we to live in the power of the Spirit? We need to feed on the Word of God and drink in the Word of God (1 Kings 17:4). We need to pray that the Lord will send His showers of blessing (1 Kings 17:14). We are to live our life “according to the Word of the Lord” (1 Kings 17:16). For our life of faith to be strong in the Lord, we need to listen attentively to the preaching of God’s Word (1 Kings 17:24).
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