"The call of God." How easy it is to misuse this term. How easy it is to make glib reference to God's calling or God's word without realising the gravity of what we say. There are times when God speaks and when God calls - but He does not always speak and He does not always call. There are times when His word is "rare" and when He is silent. Yet man is always speaking.

We humans need to draw aside and listen to God. To quieten our souls and learn to wait on Him. We need to hear God speaking. We need to have ears to hear. God will speak to those intent on listening to Him but He will not speak to those who are full of their own ideas and their own ways.

The Message of Haggai

In Haggai's day God had something to say. It was about rebuilding. It was not something everyone heard - it was not something everyone was ready to hear. In fact, prior to this speaking - this calling - there had been destruction. Unbelievable destruction! The sort of destruction that might cause many people to lose their faith in God and to fall away.

Does God destroy? Does God really allow the axe to fall at the root of things that displease Him? Apparently so. Even though there may be some good - some outward form - some semblance of God's prior blessing. Yes, God may destroy it. Why? Because God is not satisfied with outward forms, He wants truth in the inward parts.

Jeremiah knew that God would destroy. God used him to warn Israel about their fallen condition and their displeasing satisfaction with religious outward form. God used Jeremiah's words to "... root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant." (Jer 1:10). Do you notice the order that exists in this passage. To build and to plant is preceded by ... to root out and to pull down and to throw down. God destroys first - then He builds He must find some clear ground. He makes sure the old is gone before the new can come forth. God must crucify before He is ready to resurrect.

We humans do not like that. We do not like the sound of a God that destroys. We want to cling to what we know - even though it may not be "... what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Yet God only wants what He has planned. God will get rid of what we think is good and comfortable - so that He may have what He wants. God is dedicated to getting what He has planned. His will and His purposes will come to pass - when He finds those who will listen to Him.

God spoke through Jeremiah and warned His people of the destruction that would come. But they did not repent. So destruction came - by the hand of Nebuchadnezzer. God used the Babylonians - that anti-God, anti-Christ enemy to purge His people Israel. They marched in and took Jerusalem. They bound God's chosen people in chains and marched them off to Babylon. God allowed it. God even endorsed it! Yes, God endorsed the captivity of His chosen people - not only that, He allowed His temple in Jerusalem to be destroyed. He allowed His dwelling place to be burned to the ground.

God hates pretence. He abhors a sham. God hates it when the outward condition of His people is not a true reflection of their inward state. Israel's relationship with Him had become a sham. They had forsaken their covenant relationship with Him. Their religion was at best a formalised act - at worst a religious deception. God was being robbed of truth - of faithfulness - of being truly present in the midst of His people. Inwardly there had been a great departure. Inwardly there had been a captivity to some other thing besides God. Inwardly, God's presence was no longer a treasure to them.

So God brought truth to bear - by the hand of the Babylonians. Destruction ... awful destruction came to Israel. God's people were brought very low. Israel were humbled.

There are times when we all need to be humbled. There are times when we all need to be brought low. We all forsake the closeness of our relationship with God at times. We all go our own way. Then God steps in. He uses some tool of pain or destruction to remind us of who we are without Him. This is the way He chastises us. He humbles us in order to give us more grace - He brings us low so that He may lift us up in His love. It is painful at the time but how sweet is the embracing of our heavenly Father when we return to Him. When our pride has been forsaken. How fresh is the loveliness of His renewed presence.

Destruction had come to God's people and they were led away captive to Babylon. Yet some turned to God in repentance - and God chose a remnant people and began to speak again to them. He began to speak to them about going back - about restoration - and about rebuilding His temple.

God always comes back to His plan. He may have to wait a while - He may have a lot of rooting up and pulling down to do first. But He comes back to His plan. That plan is the establishment of His people and the building of His House.

This is what was on God's heart then and this is still what's on God's heart today. Oh Christian, you who have gone through the fires of destruction - you who have tasted the slavery of Babylonian captivity - and have escaped to the desert places. You who dwell alone licking the wounds of Babylonian brutality - God has not finished with you. He has not forsaken His plan. He still longs to build His House and dwell livingly In the midst of His people. Open your heart to Him - seek His face - hear His voice calling. Do not think for a moment that your solitary wilderness existence is all there is ever going to be. God has not finished with you yet.

God has always wanted to make Himself a dwelling place with man. He first chose the garden of Eden to meet with Adam and Eve. Then under Moses He had them make a tent so that He could dwell in the midst of His people. Solomon built a temple for the Lord's presence to dwell - but all these were only shadows. All these were only temporal dwellings in preparation for God's full purpose - to make His dwelling in us - as a people. To make a temple from our bodies. A living habitation for His Spirit to dwell in. This is God's eternal purpose and the plan that He will not forsake. A House made of living stones where He dwells with us and in us.

Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered in My name - there am tin the midst of them. - He was not just speaking comforting words - He was speaking of God's plan for the church. He was speaking of God's House and dwelling place. This is the very essence of the living habitation God wants to build. It is the House of God.

Action and opposition

God spoke to the remnant in Haggai's day and laid upon their heart to return to Jerusalem and rebuild His temple. They left Babylon and journeyed back to the ruins - "... all those whose spirits God had moved." Likewise God is moving the hearts of people today and putting on their hearts the call to rebuild His temple. They have forsaken the religious systems of man and seek that which is built by God. They seek a living expression of Christ in the midst of His people.

But before the remnant had got very far in the work they began to experience opposition. The opposition was most vexing and subtle. The people who dwelt in the land said, "Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do, and we have sacrificed to Him ..." (Ezra 4:2). Oh how subtle this is. The carnal nature of man is ever keen to offer some assistance. Some good idea on how to build the church. There are countless ways we can gather people together and do things that will please - entertain - or satisfy a religious itch. Yet, it is all worth nothing in terms of God's spiritual House. God doesn't need our 'good ideas' - He just needs us to listen and obey.

The remnant stood their ground - they said, "You may do nothing with us to build a House for our God; but we alone will build ..." (Ezra 4:3). Praise God for that attitude! It is not at all being exclusive - it is not all being sectarian. It is stating the truth .... unless God has laid this on your spirit, then do not presume to build anything for Him. To put it another way, "Unless God builds the House, they labour in vain who build it." The remnant need to know who they are - they need to know what it is they are being called to do. They need to be ever careful about making alliances with those who are carnal. Especially those who are keen to get religious and build something. The flesh has the capacity for both good and evil - yet both are worthless to God.

The next problem the remnant faced was far more direct. Their 'friends' began to trouble them. Isn't it strange how that when God has laid something on your heart to do - trouble is often not far away. Often from those you least expected. The remnant were hit hard with troubles. They struggled and became weary. They found themselves face to face with discouragement. (Ezra 4:4). How the enemy tries to discourage those who seek God's House. Trouble has a way of bringing down even the strongest resolve and commitment. There is only one way to overcome discouragement and that is to wait upon the Lord and keep our eyes fixed upon Him.

It seems that discouragement had worked its way right into the hearts of the remnant. So God sent Haggai to speak to them. The remnant were so discouraged that they had given up work on God's House. They had even begun to confess the exact opposite of God's word. They were saying, "The time has not come, the time that the Lord's House should be built." (Hag 1:2). Oh, how they had it wrong! Opposition, troubles, religious alliances do not mean that God's work is to be called off. That is what the enemy wishes would happen. But God calls us to stand strong and go on in faith.

A word of encouragement

So Haggai spoke wisdom into the situation. "Is it time for you to dwell in your panelled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins. Consider your ways ... you drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes ........ Consider your ways." (Hag 1:4-6).

I find this very comforting ... for God does not come with a heavy stick to break the back of a bruised reed. Instead He comes with a gentle message to shake them awake. The remnant had become side-tracked. They had found some self-chosen plan to focus upon.

Their own houses and their own lives had become everything to them - whilst God's plans for His House were put aside. How easy it is to become distracted. The troubles of living, the struggle to survive in this world, the cares of this life ... It does not take much to lose the sense of freshness in God and the zeal for His House. Before we know it, we are feeling like we are on a treadmill again ... getting nowhere. The remnant were being shown by the difficulties they were facing - that they were off the right path with God. God told them to consider their ways... When our ways become an endless treadmill - when our lives become futile - when everything we do is blown away to nothing ... sometimes God is trying to tell us something. Sometimes it is time to turn back to God and seek His face - and recommit our lives to His purposes.

This is exactly what Haggai told them to do. "Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified, says the Lord." (Hag 1:8). Mountains In the scriptures so often speak of prayer. Of getting face to face with God. Of a determination to humble ourselves and wait upon Him. This is always the place where God's building project begins. God is not looking for active lives - He is looking for consecrated lives. It is in prayer that we hear God - that our hearts become lifted up. It is in prayer that our eyes are opened to see the hope of His calling. It is in prayer that the raw materials (the wood) needed for the construction of Christ's body are found. There is no other method than hearing from God - there is no other formulae than the anointing - there is nothing man can produce that will get a spiritual result - other than that which comes by the Holy Spirit. Go up into the mountains brother - Go up sister - get something from God first hand and bring it down with you to the building site.

The remnant obeyed the word of the Lord through Haggai and the people feared (held in awe) the presence of the Lord. The Lord spoke to them and said, "I am with you." (Hag 1:12-13). What a joy it is to know the presence of God in your life. To have that holy fear restored such that life sparkles again with the freshness and vitality of God's livingness. The object of building God's House is not having numbers, it is not how much money one can amass. It is not size and honour and power. It is not having pleasure in what may be seen by men. The prime object in building God's House is knowing He dwells with us. That is all that matters. Our relationship with God is the all important issue. It is FOR Him that the work is done. It is THROUGH Him that the work is done. It is BY Him that the work is done. Nothing else is as important as this.

God called the remnant - He stirred up their spirits so that they worked on His House. He spoke to them saying, "... and be strong all you people of the land and work; for I am with you,' says the Lord of Hosts."

God is looking for a people who are committed to what He wants to build. Who are ready to work - not in the sweat of carnal effort, nor in the chains of Babylonian captivity - but in the yoke of commitment to Christ. It is a working alongside Him, doing what He shows us to do, functioning with Him and with the others He has called us to join with. Each of us must be directly connected with the Head and allow Him to lead us in the building. For it is His House - for His glory - that He may take pleasure in it.

May God call His remnant and stir up their spirits in this day.