Circulating on my social media are recommendations of the top books to read for 2024. I love to read, so I eagerly comb through the lists of suggestions to see if there’s anything that captures my attention. What is interesting to notice is that the majority of the recommendations are self-help books, which encourage an improvement in certain areas of our lives, mostly in the financial, leadership, and life management areas. How to get rich, how to influence people, how to organize time, how to loose weight, among others create a common theme of the things that are important for a better life.
I believe we all are in search of a better life. I don’t think we ever feel like we’ve arrived at our ideal life and stop working towards something better. We may go about it in different ways, but we all desire life to be better. And so we try to do things different and change our ways. And with the new year, most of us feel that this is one of those perfect times to embrace change. It’s a new chapter in our lives. We are turning the page.
The problem is that usually by day 16 or so of the new year, life goes back to what it has always been, we fall back into our well ingrained habits, and let go of our decision to change. And the cycle repeats itself year after year with very little changing permanently. We stay in our default life, the life we will live if we let things follow their course without purposeful direction. Yet so often we are unsatisfied with this default life.
I have been spending a few weeks with the book of Haggai, a little book of just two chapters towards the end of the Old Testament in the Bible. I have learned so much, but one of the things I just realized is that this little book actually gives a really good recipe for change. Now for context, the book talks about a time when the people of Judah had returned to their homeland after several years in exile and were working on rebuilding their lives. The problem is that they were working and working, but not achieving the progress and results they expected to get with all the work they were doing. So God sent them Haggai to help them see what was going on and how they could change so they could get different results.
Change is not easy. Our habits have been with us for many years, forming deep ridges in our brains, and guiding our behavior in ways similar to ruts in a path. To change these deeply ingrained habits is a difficult and often painful process. If it was as simple as making a schedule or a list of to dos, we would all easily do it. But often we have to change the way we think, the way we view the world, the way we interact with the world, and how it influences us. Often we have to swim against the current and that can be exhausting. But according to the book of Haggai lasting change is possible if three things come together to make it happen.
Let me explain.
Think about it!
In the book of Haggai God tells the people of Judah to “give careful thought” to how things were going. Five times God tells them to think about it. Change takes reflection, takes stillness to think about where we are, where we want to be, how we can get there, and what barriers we will need to overcome. We can give careful thought to our ways either alone, or by talking with a friend or a professional. Either way, creating purposeful time to think things through is important.
The problem is that we are busy and distracted with so much, and this may be the first barrier to overcome. How many of us can take a few minutes with our thoughts, with no interruptions? How often are we doing different activities like washing dishes, going for a jog or walk, commuting in the car, and have the radio, a podcast, or TV on? We like that background noise. After all, those are good times to catch up on the e-book or podcast on how to create better lives. Sadly what we end up doing is neglecting an important part of the process of change which is to think about it.
So take time to reflect on your life. Consider carefully the way things are, how you got here, and how you would like things to be different. Think of why you want to change, what the benefits will be to this change, and the benefits if things stay the same. Think about the barriers you will have to overcome if you decide to change or stay the same.
Give careful thought to your ways.
Help
Former Ramsey personality Christy Wright once posted a video on the ways God helps us. Sometimes He uses His word, sometimes the circumstances of life, or nature, but most often He uses people! We are social beings. Even those of us who are introvert and who can spend hours and hours alone, still need the companionship of fellow human beings. It’s a lot easier to change when we have someone to help us, to walk along side with us, to be our accountability partner.
So God sent Haggai and used him to help the people of Judah see how things were going and to decide if they wanted them to stay as they were or change. And Haggai stayed with them as they stepped into God’s plan and started following His lead for their lives.
Seek help! Let someone know that you’re planning on changing your ways about something. Get an accountability partner. It could be a friend whom you know will be there for you. Working with a coach does wonders as you are investing time and money into your wellbeing. You can talk with a counselor for guidance or a behavior health professional. It’s nice to know we don’t have to go through life alone and can elicit the help of someone to walk alongside us as step into God’s purpose for our lives.
Something bigger than ourselves
The idea of something bigger than ourselves is very appealing. As human beings we are pretty important ourselves. No other creature or system in this earth has the influence and power we humans have. In a sense, collectively, we rule the world. We are slowly but surely reaching into the depths of the oceans and the vastness of the universe. Even when the forces of nature manifest themselves more powerfully causing havoc, we have the power to rebuild and thrive. So how can something be bigger than ourselves?
I have searched high and low for this something bigger, something that can support me when I can’t myself, something that helps me reach to new heights, and from personal experience I have only found one: God! The Creator of it all. The One who created mother earth, the universe, and most amazingly, who created us. And because He created everything that we see and don’t see, He knows us intimately. God knows how we work, how we function, how we think. He knows the life experiences that have shaped us into who we are today, and knows the deep desires of our souls. And because He knows us so well, He also knows what will make us thrive in this crazy world and how we can achieve the abundant life promised in the Bible.
God says that He has plans to prosper us, to give us hope, and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). He says that His work in our lives is a good one and will continue that work until it’s completed (Philippians 1:6). He wants us to be strong and soar on wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31). He has plans for our lives that we simply can’t imagine yet. All we need to do is to step into those plans and He will bless us. And boy when God blesses, our cup of good overflows.
His plans may seem different than ours at first, and often things don’t happen how we expect, but the end result is always better than we could ever dream of. No more do we have to work and work and get little in return. No longer do we need to go through life on our own power, but can fully rely on His. And inside His plans there’s abundance and joy.
Towards the end of chapter 2 of Haggai God says “from now on I will bless you.” Now that the people of Judah had stepped into God’s plan for them and were doing things the way He had suggested, He could bless them. He would be on their side. He could finally help them. And how does God help? By never leaving us alone, by giving us strength, by showing the way, tellings us which direction to turn, by giving us an abundant life, and blessing us above anything we can think of or imagine.
Reaching our goals, change, seems a lot easier this way, doesn’t it?