Haggai 1:9 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 Almighty, while you are all busy building your own fine houses. I read this and immediately thought about my life and finances. We hoped for rich harvests, there were promises of great things to come, but they were poor and nothing came to pass. What we were able to bring home flew right out again in children’s medical bills, car repairs and diapers (sooooo many diapers). It seemed that we would never have enough to do more than just scrape by (thank goodness for the help and love of family, and for the grace and faithfulness of God’s provision). This same thing happened with Israel. Why? According to this verse, it’s because God’s house lies in ruins. A loooong time ago when this was written, God’s house was literally in ruins. It had been destroyed by invaders. The Israelites who had started to rebuild had rebuilt their homes, but not the Temple. Today, most of us don’t have a physical temple building in ruins laying around our homes and neighborhoods. But the principle still applies. God’s home is our hearts. Have we been so busy trying to build our homes, businesses, and families that we’ve neglected to care for God’s home? Do we spend time with Him? Do we talk with Him? Do we allow Him to work in us? Do we do good for others and love them? I know that for a long time, I was so busy with life that I didn’t have time to spend with God. It wasn’t that I never thought of Him or completely ignored Him, but finding some time to read God’s Word and pray in chunks of time was nearly impossible with two small children! I neglected to build that relationship with God – I neglected to build His temple in me. Maybe that’s part of why we’ve struggled so much these last few years. It may not be all of it. There’s probably a lot of good lessons in there, too, I’m sure. But it could very well be a part of the problem. There’s a reason this chunk of text made it into our version of the Bible…