Put God First: Why Your Efforts Still Feel Empty
- meetgodattheedgeof
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Haggai 1:4-6
[4] “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? [5] This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! [6] You have planted much but harvest little. You eat but are not satisfied. You drink but are still thirsty. You put on clothes but cannot keep warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets filled with holes!
The Lord brought me to this book, and these verses were eye-opening. I've read Haggai many times before, but today was the day the Lord wanted it to smack me in the face. "Lord, are we putting our comfort above our relationship with You? Are we truly choosing to put God first?"
In this instance, I believe He is addressing something that may make some people uncomfortable.
After all the things we've been through and all the ways the Lord has carried us, it seems some of us have slipped into the attitude of, "It's time to get my situation and my money right." Those things are not necessarily wrong when they are pursued in God's timing and at His direction. But when they begin taking priority over the things God has clearly called us to support, He is asking us to stop for a moment and bring our hearts before Him.
Working hard for a comfortable life without putting God first will always lead to emptiness. It goes against everything we've learned from Scripture. Money, status, and even busy routines pursued outside of God's will become exactly what Haggai describes—like putting wages into pockets full of holes. We will never be truly satisfied or fulfilled when God is not first and the reason behind our hard work.
The evidence that God truly comes first is that money, status, and busyness stop being our primary objective. They become tools instead of treasures.
God provides a way for you to accomplish all these things in His timing and in His way. His way works. His way produces lasting fruit. His way is the only sure foundation. The only way we experience His perfect plan is by surrendering our own plans and ideas of how to get there.
Surrender is more than giving up your plans; it is fully trusting that God's way is better. It is believing that when you obey, He will cover you and provide for you. God is interested in drawing your heart closer to His, one step of obedience at a time.
Jesus gave us the perfect example by living as a servant, putting others first because He saw them for who they truly were—children of God, fully loved and fully known.
Take a few minutes today and honestly look at where your time, energy, and money go each week. Then compare that to what God's Word teaches. Ask yourself if you are truly choosing to put God first, or if He has slowly become an afterthought once everything else is taken care of.
Peace and provision come from hearts that are fully aligned with our heavenly Father.
Thank You, Father, for one more day. Amen.
Haggai 1:7-9
[7] “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Look at what’s happening to you! [8] Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. [9] You hoped for rich harvests, but they were poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses.
