19 May 2026
Life was hard for God’s people in Haggai’s day. Their harvests disappointed them. Their efforts seemed to shrink in their hands. Haggai reminded them, “When someone came to a grain heap of twenty measures, it only amounted to ten, when one came to the winepress to dip fifty measures from the vat, it only amounted to twenty” (Haggai 2:16, CSB). Things were not working. Their expectations kept collapsing. As Mark Penrith said, “Empty bins. Empty vats. Blight on the crops. Mildew on the vines. Hail from the sky. Everything you touch withers.”
The people searched for explanations. Maybe the economy was weak. Maybe the season had been poor. Maybe they simply had bad luck. But God exposed a deeper reality. “I struck you, all the work of your hands, with blight, mildew, and hail, but you didn’t turn to me” (Haggai 2:17, CSB). Mark explained it bluntly, “You thought it was bad luck. God calls it discipline.” God had not abandoned His people. He had not disappeared. He had not become indifferent. He was actively pursuing them.
That truth can unsettle us. We often assume hardship means God is distant. We think closed doors, disappointments, and frustrations prove something has gone wrong. Yet Mark reminded us, “This is not random misfortune. This is covenant discipline. This is the hand of the Father.” Sometimes God interrupts our comfort because He wants our attention. Sometimes He lovingly blocks the road because He wants us near Him.
Mark gave the picture of a father taking away car keys from a rebellious son. Discipline feels painful in the moment. Yet “the father is not cruel. He is loving.” Then Mark applied it directly. “Empty granaries were not bad luck. They were the Father taking the keys.” God disciplines because He loves His children. He aims at restoration, not destruction.
Think carefully today. Consider one frustration that has occupied your thoughts. Before you complain, stop and pray. Ask, Lord, what are You teaching me through this? Then explain this truth to your children. Loving fathers correct because they care. Our heavenly Father does the same.
How can hardship become an invitation to draw nearer to God rather than drift further from Him?
Prayer: Father, help me see Your loving hand even in difficult seasons. Draw me closer through every hardship. Amen.