Author: Chad Bandy

God created us as sovereign beings.  We have a choice.  We can believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and that he died on the cross to forgive our sins.  Or, we can doubt, question, and not believe.  It is our choice.

I have been challenged to understand how we have the opportunity to make our own choices and wonder how God’s “intervention” leads to His will being fulfilled.  When can we know God’s intentions for our lives and how do we make sure we follow His guidance?

Our world can be a sad and depressing place.  If there is a God, then why are bad things allowed to happen (natural disasters, diseases, pain and tragedies, death, etc.)?

At the beginning of chapter 11 verse 16, Jesus said “What shall I liken this generation?  It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying, ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.’”

Jesus affirms in Matthew the rejection of Him during His time on earth.  He rebuked several cities and their people for their lack of trust and belief that He was the Messiah. He showed His presence in the form of healing the sick and deaf, raising people from the dead, and preaching the gospel to the poor. Even after all of these acts and documented eye witness accounts of His miracles and works, people of His time still doubted that he was the Messiah.

If we do not see something with our own eyes, do we believe what we are told?  Do we question and wonder why? Are we influenced positively or negatively by the people and voices around us and what we believe?

This verse speaks to me and says, stop overthinking and allowing doubt and uncertainty in our minds and trust in Christ. The world we live in is filled with unhappiness, focused on material possessions, is full of failed marriages and relationships, and is filled with sin and death.  Yes, it is easy to question God’s presence in our sinful world.  The doubting person in us can question the presence of Christ and pull us away from His word.  We are not able to comprehend and understand God’s will, all the time, based on our understanding of what we see on Earth. God’s purpose is so much greater than we are capable of understanding. Our minds are not built to comprehend how what we see and know can be of benefit to us, and trust that in all times.

Matthew 11:25 speaks to me in this way. Stop doubting and overthinking God’s existence and presence with our Earthly minds. God is present always, in charge always, and fulfilling His purpose for our lives to bring about His perfect goals. Even when we don’t like what is happening to us or around us, we must trust in Him. 

Scripture tells us over and over that God is in control and He “works in all things according to the counsel of His will.” (Ephesians 1:11) We also learn that His “dominion is over all things (Proverbs 21:1, Daniel 4:25), and the times and places where we live (Acts 17:26).

Our minds push us to focus on self-preservation and survival.  We think thoughts that prevent us from pain or hurt.  We prevent ourselves from believing so we won’t be disappointed.  We overthink it. We self-sabotage relationships or situations so when it doesn’t work out, we won’t experience sadness. Our thoughts create our feelings, and our feelings create the results in our life.  My prayer is that we guard our thoughts.  Guard our thoughts against overthinking what God’s will is for us, study scripture and patiently evaluate what He intends for our lives.

Jesus, Please help us to focus on your goodness, your presence in our lives, and be thankful for the blessings you have provided us.  I thank you for loving us, even when we don’t deserve it.  Thank you for your goodness and your forgiveness of our sins.  Amen.

My Testimony

Here’s my story. I was invited to write for this Bible Journal, and I was nervous. Self doubt took over. I was scared that I did not know enough about the Bible, nervous that I might look silly, and afraid that I would not know what to write.

I prayed about it and relented. I agreed to be a contributor. I received my first assigned verse and it was Haggai 2:7. Ok. This is a book in the Bible I had never read, could barely find, and honestly, had never heard of.

Fast forward three days later and my family goes to worship at Cornerstone Chapel in Leesburg, VA led by Senior Pastor Gary Hamrick. (Cornerstonechapel.net). The sermon and Bible study for the day…Haggai. What are the chances? There are 66 books in the Bible and 52 Sunday’s to attend church, and today’s lesson was Haggai. God dispelled my worry and provided Pastor Gary’s teaching on a book I had never read, and candidly, was unsure what I should write. God’s got this.

Why Did God Want the Temple Rebuilt?

In 538 BC, God freed the Jews after 70 years of slavery in Babylon. In 536 BC, the Jews began to reconstruct the Temple, which has not existed since the days of Solomon. Two years after starting construction, the Jewish people stopped building the Temple. The book of Haggai talks about when God came to Haggai and encouraged him to preach to the Jewish people about beginning again to rebuild the Temple.

God told the Jews in first chapter of Haggai, verse 9, “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” Says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.”

God was calling his people to rebuild the Temple to sacrifice their time, resources, and lives to commit to worshipping Him. God was trying to get their attention. He had freed the Jews from years of slavery but they were focused on their own well-being and not praising and thanking God for his grace and mercy to them. I learned today from Pastor Gary that the Jews started building the foundation for the new Temple and then stopped. In fact, the Temple sat unconstructed for sixteen years before God spoke to Haggai to encourage the Jews to rebuild.

I began writing this journal focused on how the Jewish people should have made sacrifices and praised God for His mercy. They should have wanted to rebuild the Temple. My writing was going to be judgmental about the Jewish people and their lack of willingness to follow God’s wishes and rebuild the Temple, especially after he delivered them from their bondage. Why should they be focused on their own well-being and not praising God to fulfill His wishes? There are some lessons for my life in that question for sure.

Here is where today’s lesson from Pastor Gary became awesome. I learned that the book of Ezra provides context and understanding to the book of Haggai as to why the Jewish people stopped building the Temple. Ezra 4:23-24 tells us that King Artaxerxes, ruler of Persia, wrote a cease and desist to the Jews regarding the reconstruction of the Temple. King Artaxerxes did not want the Jews worshipping and loving God more than him. The Jews were intimated and directed to stop construction of the Temple. They were threatened. So they stopped. They were afraid for their well-being, especially after coming out of 70 years of slavery. They likely did not want to cause a problem with the king and risk being returned to slavery. I would not have learned this without learning about the explanation in the book of Ezra.

What‘s the Lesson?

I was judging the Jews for not following God’s wishes. My message was going to be about honoring and glorifying God with our time, resources, and sacrifices. Certainly a lesson I need to follow as well. There was much more to the story that I did not know.

Pastor Gary led my heart to the best part of this lesson. It’s not just about following God’s wishes. It is about judgement and having an opinion about others. I am guilty to rush to judgement or have an opinion about someone, and many times, I fail to ask more about their story. What I did not know was why the Jews stopped building the Temple and the threats by King Artaxerxes. I rushed to judge.

So, it could be the terribly negative co-worker, the annoying neighbor who always turns everyone into the HOA, or maybe your own family member who constantly creates drama. We might resent people in our lives for the issues they create and judge them for the problems they cause. The simple question is, what is their story? Why are they so unhappy? Why do they cause problems? I was reminded today, I need to ask why. Try to understand. Seek more information. There is always more to someone’s story.

I know this, of course, that there is always more to someone’s story. But, in a fast-paced world of fly by news, and sometimes brutal social media, we can quickly skewer someone with a harsh comment, negative judgement, or squash a person because they are a irritant in our lives. The message today was simple. Do not rush to judge anyone until you learn more about them.

My prayer is that we stop, seek understanding, and treat others like Jesus did. Invite the nasty neighbor to church. Get that negative co-worker a gift for their birthday. Or, make sure to get your difficult family member something for the holidays. No, this is not easy. But, without knowing someone’s story, let’s not rush to judge them. This is certainly a goal of mine this year.