Haggai 2:2-5 (ESV)

[2] “Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to all the remnant of the people, and say, [3] ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? [4] Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, [5] according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not.

The people of God had returned to their land. They established their homes, and began to rebuild the temple of God. Unfortunately, they lost their zeal for the temple. They were content with making their new homes comfortable and leaving God’s House unfinished.

One of the reasons for not finishing the Temple was discouragement. “Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong” (Hag 2:3-4). Many were still living in the past. They could remember the former glory. They couldn’t see how they could possibly match that former glory. They didn’t have the abilities nor the resources that the first builders of the temple had. They didn’t have the wealth nor the numbers that Solomon had to work with when the first temple was built. They were discouraged, so they settled for getting comfortable.

In every generation God is doing a new thing. For many, the present will never match the former glory. For others, moving on feels disrespectful to what God did in the past. Looking back is good. We occasionally need to be reminded of what God did. The past is a part of what brought us to the present. Many times God told his people not to forget certain events. We need to honor the past. But, we can’t live there.

As much as we need to honor the past, we must stop living in the past. Whatever former glory there was is gone. The present is not to be compared to the past. We need to recognize the current presence of God in our midst. We need to look back and remember. Then we need to look forward and see where God is leading us today. For the Jews that meant building a temple that did not compare to the glory of former days. But the temple was still the symbol of the presence of God in their midst. It needed to be built, and for the new generation it would be a glorious thing.

It is hard, but sometimes we need to look back, remember, and then let go. God is doing a new thing today. Are we going to get on board, or are we going to live in the past. For God’s people in Haggai’s day, living in the past was selfish and self-focused. It almost always is. Look back, celebrate the past, then turn to see what God is doing today and get on with the work.