Cause to Pause

For the faithful and observant, you noticed that when the page loaded, the domain got a lot shorter. I had been using the absolutely, 100%, not paying for anything, free Wordpress.com to host my blog. Upside-free. Downside-subdomain: www.jeffsuever.wordpress.com. A little cumbersome, but not nearly as bad as Live Spaces.
I finally broke down and paid for a domain name and mapping. Still using the free version of WordPress though. Haven’t moved to the self-hosted WordPress.org yet. In the future I may as there are a few features I would like to incorporate. When I finally stay consistently above that “1,500 unique and returning visitors” per day average, I’ll pop for the $5/month a host will cost me. For now I’ll just stick to the free version and keep working on content.

Your RSS feeds and bookmarks should still be fine…but you might want to update ‘em just to be sure.

There is an interesting lesson in the book of Haggai. The Jews had just returned from captivity and set to rebuilding the temple. However, once they got the foundation laid, they ran into opposition. As a result they convinced themselves to look after their own needs. Matthew Henry puts it this way:

but, being served with a prohibition some time after from the Persian court, and charged not to go on with it, they not only yielded to the force, when they were actually under it, which might be excused, but afterwards, when the violence of the opposition had abated, they continued very indifferent to it, had no spirit nor courage to set about it again, but seemed glad that they had a pretence to let it stand still.

Do you like that last phrase? “seemed glad they had a pretence to let it stand still”. They were just looking for an excuse to quit.

So, they had been freed from captivity, started to rebuild the temple according to God’s word, then allowed themselves to get caught up in the mundane of life saying things like:

"The time has not come, the time that the LORD’s house should be built." Hag 1:2

There are times when God calls us to do things. To “rebuild His temple” if you will. We have been brought out of captivity and now it is time to honor Him. But as soon as we hit some opposition, we convince ourselves that “we better look after our own houses” and “evidently, the time isn’t right otherwise it would be easier”. The reality is we are just looking for an excuse to quit.

God has a very straightforward response:

"[Is it] time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple [to lie] in ruins?"

The Jews had said “The time isn’t right to rebuild the Lord’s house.” to which God replied “But the time is right to rebuild YOUR house?” We worship the God of irony.

I have to ask myself, “What is it lately that God has asked, and when I hit some opposition, I turn to myself and never return to His purposes?” A ministry goal? Maybe a professional goal? A relationship that needs mending? How about just some area that is in need of some basic obedience? Those are good questions to ask.
Am I more concerned with living a life of ease, in a “paneled house” as it were, than in serving Him? All because of what? A little opposition? A little failure? Because I swung for the fence only to hear the dull thud of the ball hitting the catcher’s mitt?

There’s never a wrong time to do the right thing…or to return to what you know God is calling you to do.

WordPress Tags: lesson,Haggai,foundation,opposition,needs,Henry,courage,response,ruins,irony,
ministry,goal,relationship,obedience,failure

1. Derek Berg has left the building. Or more accurately the state. He, his wife and the team from Woodland have left for Ariz. and New Mexico on a mission trip. You can follow their trip from this official blog on the church website.Or DM @djberg and he may let you follow him via Google Latitude.
2. Jason Lee and his dogged determination. Jason is not letting up on the idea of having his whole ACS member database in his MS Exchange Active Directory. Here’s a post on it. Here’s another one. This Monday Jason is setting up a conference call to discuss the possibility as well as what it would take to make it happen. Details can be found on his blog here.
3. My other buddy Jason (this time Reynolds) for getting me into a group ride last Saturday. Turnabout is fair play, my friend…
4. Lastly Jason Powell, or more accurately, his son Jacob who took a header out of a bunk bed at camp. Broke his wrist, got stitches and went right back to camp. Trooper!

PS. Anyone else feel like Larry from the old Bob Newhart show? “This is my brother, Darryl. And my other brother, Darryl.”