God’s Promise Of Turnaround (This Is Not How Your Story Ends) Series

Sermon: God’s Promise of Turnaround

Haggai 2:18-23 “Think about this eighteenth day of December, the day when the foundation of the Lord’s Temple was laid. Think carefully. I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”

“On that same day, December 18, the Lord sent this second message to Haggai: “Tell Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, that I am about to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow royal thrones and destroy the power of foreign kingdoms. I will overturn their chariots and riders. The horses will fall, and their riders will kill each other. “But when this happens, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will make you like a signet ring on my finger, says the Lord, for I have chosen you. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”

Introduction: Turnaround time is the amount of time it takes to complete a process. An easy way to think of turnaround time is the time from the moment a request is made, or a process is started to the time when the request is fulfilled or the process is complete. Every now and then, God will place a time limit on the accomplishment of His purpose. He told Hannah and Sarah “by this time next year you will have a son.” God told Elisha by this time tomorrow the economy will be restored. God told Joshua, in seven days Jericho will fall. In our text today, the fifth and final message of Haggai, “From this day on I will bless you." They were in the grip of an economic downturn. The seed was still in the barn, the grapevines were bare, the fig tree and the pomegranate, and the olive tree were unfruitful and still yield nothing. Yet, God says, From this day on I will bless you and you will experience a turnaround!

These few verses are important and necessary from Haggai’s final sermon. They were designed for the leadership. Zerubbabel must take courage from this message. The first sermon called the people to consider their ways. It is time to reboot and change their course. The people had become deceived, lost, selfish and needed to be stirred up again! Haggai’s second message called the people and the leadership to remember God’s covenant and his promises. It is time to renew their minds and their heart. How you see is important; what you believe is vital, and what you will experience is the manifested glory of God. Next, God used Haggai to remind the people of the value of living holy and obedient lives. How we live makes a difference. As soon as they moved towards holy obedience, God began turning things around. Now the temple had begun again, the former rains and the latter rains would come. Crops would be restored. The land would bring forth plenty and peace would fill the land. Haggai’s third and fourth messages were preached on the same day. He preached to the people in the morning, but in the evening, the 25th day of the ninth month, was reserved for a private message to Zerubbabel, the Governor.

Haggai’s final message was restricted to Zerubbabel, the leader of this remnant people of God. Four times in the span of three months, God had sent a prophetic word. The people had been stirred to complete the temple work. Now God call Zerubbabel to faith for the future. The people were satisfied to know that the harvest would come, prosperity would return, and they would have daily provisions. Zerubbabel’s mind was occupied by more pressing matters. Leaders must not only lead in the moment of crisis, but they must also lead us into the future. Before Zerubbabel can lead into the future, God must rebuild his faith and confidence. Zerubbabel is leading in a hostile environment with rumors of his enemies plaguing his mind. How could a governor so limited and so weak protect God’s people? He understands that he is leading one of the weakest and ill prepared people in a hostile region. He has no army, no official authority, and only Joshua the priest standing with him. He has no reason to believe that he can pull it off! If you understand the impact of discouragement on lay people, it is multiplied in the life on a leader. One of the Olympic Medalist recently talked about the pressure of the Olympic games. She said, You work so hard, push yourself to the limit, but if you fail, the discouragement and disappointment is unbearable. It is wonderful to know that God understands the pressure of Leadership, so He sends a word.