By Karen Polich

The longer we live, the more opportunities we have to start again. Life is like that. Some beginnings are more difficult than others. When we find ourselves in the messy seasons of life, it can signal a time when we need to start again. We can apologize, rebuild, change our path, forgive or refocus. How we choose to embrace those moments can determine what the yield will be.

The turn from a real mess that leads towards spiritual blessing can be a highly discouraging space. Still engulfed in the pain of the mess, despite best efforts, there just isn’t any relief in sight. It’s not simply out of view, it feels like any type of blessing doesn’t exist.

Pastor Michael M. Cooks sermon series, Starting Again, continued, studying Haggai 2:15-23. (Listen here.) As God’s people struggled to rebuild the temple, Haggai reminded them to first look back. Why did this matter? It helped them see how far they had come. Starting again, they had an enormous task and the progress was small. The key was that they were moving forward in obedience to God.

Haggai 2:19a “From this day on, I will bless you.” Understand, the temple was not close to being finished, yet God chose to bless His people as they moved toward Him by starting again.

“We are not to live in the past, but it is important to visit the past.” – Michael M. Cook

Remembering what it was like when ______ (fill in the blank) keeps us moving in the right direction. Our past does not define us but helps inform us of how far we’ve come in starting again. It reminds us of where we don’t want to go again.

Today can be the beginning of the rest of our lives. How God blesses us is up to Him, but our willingness to believe in the yield as we move forward is the beginning of making the turn out of the mess until we have moved far beyond its reach.

^“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

God works in a unique way for each of us. Each a one of a kind creation, His blessings reflect our originality. The yield will be our own. When He pours out blessings, it may not be because of what we have finished, but because he sees a new work in progress.

Are we moving forward?

“We never harvest in the same season in which we planted.” – Michael M. Cook