Consider Your Ways: When Good Things Take God’s Place

Consider Your Ways: When Good Things Take God’s Place

This week, Pastor Bob began a new series in the book of Haggai—a short, two-chapter book tucked near the end of the Old Testament. At first glance, it may seem like an obscure part of the Bible, but Haggai speaks with surprising clarity to everyday life today.

Pastor Bob opened by talking about how confusing the Old Testament can feel, especially when you’re new to faith or haven’t had much background with the Bible. Kingdoms split. Temples are built and destroyed. People go into exile and return. Names are hard to pronounce. The timeline can feel overwhelming.

But Haggai helps us step into one important moment in Israel’s story.

God’s people had been taken into exile because they had turned away from Him. After many years, they were allowed to return home to Jerusalem. They came back with the opportunity to rebuild what had been destroyed, including the temple—the central place of worship in their life with God.

But sixteen years later, the temple was still unfinished.

The people had rebuilt their own homes. In fact, they had made them quite nice. But the house of God still lay in ruins. Through the prophet Haggai, God asked them to stop and think carefully about their lives:

“Consider your ways.”

In other words: Take a look at what your choices are saying.

When Priorities Drift

The issue wasn’t just construction. God wasn’t simply upset about an unfinished building project.

The unfinished temple revealed something deeper: the people’s hearts had drifted. God was no longer at the center of their lives.

They still believed in Him. They had made the long journey back to Jerusalem. They had once been eager to worship and rebuild. But over time, fear, comfort, busyness, and discouragement took over.

Pastor Bob pointed out how relatable that is.

Many of us know what it’s like to begin with passion and purpose, only to slowly become distracted. We may not reject God outright, but we push Him to the edges. Other things become more important—work, comfort, entertainment, money, schedules, success, or just trying to keep up.

And then we wonder why we feel empty.

Haggai describes people who were working hard but never seemed to have enough. They ate but weren’t satisfied. They earned wages, but it was like putting money into a bag full of holes.

That sounds uncomfortably familiar.

We live in a world full of options, entertainment, food, technology, and activity—and yet so many people still feel restless, anxious, and unsatisfied. Pastor Bob reminded us that sometimes the problem isn’t that we don’t have enough. Sometimes the problem is that we are asking created things to give us what only God can give.

Modern-Day Idols

When we hear the word “idol,” we might picture ancient statues made of stone or wood. But idols today are often much more ordinary.

An idol can be anything we look to for security, meaning, comfort, or identity more than God.

It could be money.  
It could be entertainment.  
It could be busyness.  
It could be success.  
It could be our home, our hobbies, our reputation, or even our family schedule.

These things are not always bad in themselves. Pastor Bob was clear: rest, hobbies, movies, games, and other forms of leisure are not automatically wrong. The question is whether they have taken the center seat in our lives.

Do they satisfy us for a moment, only to leave us empty afterward?

Do they distract us from what God has called us to do?

Do they keep us from prayer, Scripture, serving others, loving our neighbors, or sharing hope with people around us?

Haggai invites us to ask honest questions—not with shame, but with openness.

What Has God Called Us To?

For the people in Haggai’s day, the call was to rebuild the temple. That was the work in front of them.

For us, the call may look different.

We are not rebuilding a temple in Jerusalem. We are living our lives here, in our homes, workplaces, schools, neighborhoods, and communities. So the question becomes: What has God placed in front of us?

Who are the people He has given us to love?

Where can we serve?

How can we bring hope to our community?

What step of obedience have we been putting off?

Pastor Bob named some of the excuses we often use:  
“I’m too busy.”  
“I don’t know how.”  
“I’m afraid.”  
“I have too much going on.”  
“I’ll get to it later.”

The people in Haggai’s day had excuses too—and some of them were understandable. They had faced real opposition. But God still called them to trust Him and put first things first.

That same invitation comes to us.

Coming Back to the Center

The heart of Haggai’s message is not simply “try harder.” It is an invitation to return.

Return to God.  
Return to what matters.  
Return to your first love.  
Return to the One who actually satisfies.

Pastor Bob described Haggai as a book about revival—not just a big emotional moment, but a renewed turning of our hearts back toward God. Revival begins when we pause long enough to “consider our ways” and honestly ask:

Has God been pushed to the margins of my life?

Am I trying to find satisfaction in things that cannot truly satisfy?

What has taken first place in my heart?

What is one step of obedience I need to take?

The good news is that God does not ask these questions to crush us. He asks because He loves us. He calls us back because life with Him at the center is better than a life built around anything else.

This week, may we take time to consider our ways—and may we have the courage to turn back toward the One who is already calling us home.

Scriptures Referenced

- Haggai 1:1–11  
- Ezra 1:1–3  
- Ezra 3  
- Ezra 4:11–13  
- Ezra 5  
- Isaiah 44:28  
- Jeremiah 25  
- Jeremiah 25:12–13  
- Jeremiah 29:10  
- Leviticus  
- Deuteronomy  
- Revelation 2  
- Revelation