May 26, 2022: Day 112 – Jonah 1-4 and Haggai 1-2

Don’t we all love the story of Jonah?  I’m thinking we love it because it is a success story of God sending a whale to swallow one of his prophets so that he could carry on his work of evangelizing and evnentually an entire population is saved as a result.  I guess that is the big picture perspective.  But think about it from Jonah’s perspective.  He ran from God, he was grumpy when God saved the people, he didn’t understand his role in God’s kingdom which one of supporting cast, not of decision maker.  Are we comfortable with that role of supporting cast to God’s plans and not the decision maker?  

Haggai takes us to the call to rebuild the temple after the people have returned from captivity.  He calls out the leaders and say why is it that you have prioritized rebuilding your homes when the house of the Lord is in ruins.  Remember, the Babylonians destroyed the temple completely and so there it was, in ruins, while the people worked hard to get their life back in order, God calls them out for not focusing on their relationship, their duty to God.