One of my sons has entered his senior years at school and it has suddenly dawned on him that the work they are given during the term lessons, is to equip them for their assessments at the end of the term.
“I noticed,” he said, “because the teacher kept telling us to take note of these things as it will be on our assessment task. I always just thought they gave us boring work during the term to fill in the time until assessment time.”
Finally! Thank you Jesus! A very important light-bulb moment and maybe just in time to make his senior years successful. Now that he’s had this epiphany, I have never seen him more motivated to achieve in his studies. It would have been great if this had occurred to him earlier, but hey—better late than never.
Light-bulb moments
When something suddenly dawns on us, it really is quite an enlightening moment, which is probably why we call them ‘light-bulb moments’. It’s like someone just turned on a light to see clearly what was hiding in the dark, or what we were even unaware was there.
Reading the book of Haggai in the Old Testament of the Bible, the Jews also had somewhat of a light-bulb moment. They had returned from exile in Babylon to Jerusalem and had rebuilt their houses with panelled walls, yet they would plant but harvest little, eat but never have enough, drink but never have their fill. They would put on clothes, but not be warm, earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it (Haggai chapter 1 verse 6).
The LORD spoke at the time through a prophet named Haggai and told them to give careful thought to their ways. He highlighted these problems they were having, which they probably weren’t fully aware of until it was brought to their attention.
“You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.” (Haggai chapter 1 verse 9)
A face palming moment
I can almost imagine the people face palming themselves in realisation, saying, “Of course! How did we not see that?”
While the Jews had been focussed on building their own richly decorated houses, they had left the house of God in ruins.
Thank goodness God cared enough to bring it to their attention. Once they realised what they had been doing, the hearts of the people received what the LORD had said, and they turned their hearts and minds to rebuilding the house of God.
Sometimes we can get caught up in doing our own thing, working hard, only to struggle through finding enough for each day, (or in my son’s case, getting to the end of each school day). These times can be seasons of trusting in God to provide, but it’s also a good idea to stop now and then and consider where our focus lies.
Though we may not have to physically build a church or building to bring glory to God, are we living our lives in a way that our attention and focus is bringing attention and glory to God? Are we building God’s kingdom through the way we interact with people, through the way we do business, through the way we study, through the way that we parent our children?
Consider what the LORD did for the Jews once they returned their focus onto Him. The LORD declared that He was with them, and stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, the spirit of Joshua, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people, and they began to work together on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God (Haggai chapter 1 verses 13-14).
He made them this promise:
“The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,” says the LORD Almighty. “And in this place I will grant peace,” declares the LORD Almighty.’ (Haggai chapter 2 verse 9)
Churches have gone through great transitions in recent times, and my prayer is that God will stir up the spirits of His people as we have light-bulb moments and turn our eyes and hearts and minds and souls onto Him. And may the glory of this present house be greater than the glory of the former house as we look for guidance as we rebuild.
‘Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labour in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.’ (Psalm 127 verses 1-2)
Rebecca and her husband have four children and live on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Rebecca writes for various publications including print, online and commercial. She is the author of two books: ‘First to Forty’ and ‘Pizza and Choir’. For more information you can find Rebecca at: http://www.rebeccamoore.life, Facebook: Rebecca Moore - Author, Instagram: rebeccamoore_author
Rebecca Moore's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/rebecca-moore.html