“Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little…”

 

– Haggai 1:5–6

 

Seasoned leader standing still at sunrise, overlooking a quiet city, symbolizing reflection, humility, and realignment before stepping into the year ahead.

 

The Calendar Changed. Alignment Did Not

A new year has a funny way of making people think things will magically improve. New calendar. New planner. New goals. Same habits. Same priorities.

January brings momentum, but momentum without alignment is just speed in the wrong direction. That is why God does not cheer the people on in Haggai. Instead, He hits pause.

Before progress.
Before plans.
Before productivity.

God says, consider your ways.

Not your intentions. Not your excuses. Your ways.

Because movement without direction is not progress. It is drift.

Busy Does Not Equal Obedient

The people in Haggai were not sitting around doing nothing. They were working hard. Building houses. Planting crops. Staying busy.

Yet God says something that should make every leader uncomfortable:

“You have sown much and harvested little.”

That is the sound of effort without alignment.

This was not a work ethic problem. It was a priority problem. God had not been rejected. He had been postponed. And postponement always costs more than people expect.

You can look productive and still be off course. In fact, productivity often hides misalignment the longest.

Why God Talks About Order Before Results

God does not tell them to hustle harder. He does not offer a better system. He does not hand them a new strategy.

Instead, He addresses order.

That matters because when God is not first, everything else eventually starts leaking. Peace leaks. Joy leaks. Energy leaks. Clarity leaks.

As a result, leaders push harder trying to fix symptoms while ignoring the root issue. However, no amount of effort can compensate for misplaced priorities.

Order always comes before overflow.

The Trap of “Later”

Most leaders do not plan to put God last. They just keep pushing Him to later.

Later when things slow down.
Later when the pressure eases.
Later when life is less demanding.

Unfortunately, delayed obedience is still disobedience.

God was not asking His people to stop building. He was asking them to stop sidelining Him. Because you cannot build a God-honoring future while keeping God on standby.

Eventually, that misalignment shows up. Sometimes as burnout. Other times as frustration. Often as exhaustion that does not make sense given how much effort you are putting in.

That is not weakness. That is warning.

When Frustration Is Mercy

Here is the part most people miss.

God allowed their work to feel unproductive on purpose.

Not to punish them.
Not to shame them.
But to wake them up.

Sometimes God lets effort fall short so alignment can be restored. If misalignment always produced success, no one would ever stop to reconsider their ways.

In that light, frustration becomes mercy. Resistance becomes redirection. What feels like delay becomes protection.

God interrupts progress when progress is taking you away from Him.

A New Order Changes Everything

Once the people reordered their priorities, everything shifted. God’s presence returned. Momentum followed. Provision made sense again.

That is how it works.

When God is first:

• Decisions get clearer

• Pressure loses its grip

• Work produces fruit instead of fatigue

This is not spiritual hype. It is design.

A new year does not need a new grind. It needs a new order.

The Question That Sets the Year  

Before you write goals.
Before you map strategy.
Before you sprint into January.

Ask the question God asked first:

Have I considered my ways?

Not what you want this year.
Not what you hope to fix.
But what you are prioritizing.

Because without alignment, even good goals will take you in the wrong direction.

Mirror Moment

Slow down long enough to answer honestly:

• Where have I been productive but misaligned?
• What has been getting my best instead of God?
• What would actually change if God were first, not just acknowledged?

Alignment starts with honesty, not intention.