The Rev. Seth Buckner/Heritage Baptist Church
Haggai 2:19 says, “…from this day will I bless you.” Often, the blessings of God seem elusive and impossible to grasp. Pain seems much more likely. In the great movie The Princess Bride, Wesley says to Princess Buttercup, “Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”
There is pain in life, in our past, and there might be more pain in our future. Pain is a part of life. God created us to hurt. He could have made us not to hurt, but He did not. He does everything well, so we must trust Him with our life.
It does not matter what happened before this day. No amount of yearning for the old days will bring them back. Our past is important, but we cannot go back to it. Forward is all we have.
Philippians 3:13 says, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”
“…from this day will I bless you.” The Lord promises blessings. Psalm 71:19 says, “Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!”
All through the Bible, we see evidence that God is great. This great God wants to bless you from this day forward. Let Him be the Captain of your ship, and He will never steer you wrong.
He plans to bless you. Yes, the One who has undertaken to meet our needs has all the universe’s resources to back up His promises. Philippians 4:19 says, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
When you have God’s blessing, you have it all. If you know that God is blessing your life, you have something that the world cannot give or take away. You can experience true satisfaction no matter your circumstances.
In Haggai, the people’s job was to build the temple of God. God told them, “Do my will, and from this day will I bless you.” The most vital question for a Christian is, “What is the will of God for my life?”
Someone once said, “A bird is free in the air. Place a bird in the water and he has lost his liberty. A fish is free in the water, but leave him on the sand and he perishes…. The Christian is free when he does the will of God and is obedient to God’s command. This is as natural a realm for God’s child as the water is for the fish, or the air for the bird.”
Adam Scott said, “From this day. That is definite enough. The benediction had been stored up — now it was to fall like the refreshing rain over all the land. And the blessing is to be continuous. Today, and every succeeding day, I will bless you. The premise is most reliable.
While building the Brooklyn Bridge, the architect suffered an injury that kept him down for many months. From his bed, he gave instructions to the builders. At the end of the job, he was carried out on a cot to view the bridge. After he had examined it in every detail, his eye lit up with gladness, and, clapping his hands, he cried, “It is just according to the plan.”
When our lives reach their end, may we be able to say, “We have finished the work which He gave us to do; it is just according to His plan.”
From this day, let us determine to do better, do more for God, and stay in His will. From this day, let us fight through the pain and look for His blessings. Those blessings are all around us when we start to look for them.