“Does anyone remember this house—this Temple—in its former splendor? How, in comparison, does it look to you now? It must seem like nothing at all!…The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”

Haggai 2:3,9

Sweet friends, what a power-packed lesson God delivers to us in the second chapter of Haggai!

To give a little context, recall that at the time of Haggai’s prophesying, the Hebrew people had been conquered by the Babylonians and much of Jerusalem had been sacked or destroyed years earlier. When they were permitted to return to Jerusalem, God directed them through Haggai to rebuild His temple.

Unfortunately, the work kept stalling for various reasons. One of which was…the comparison trap. The oldest members of the Hebrew people wept because the new temple they were building was smaller than the temple had been when they were young people. They were discouraged by the comparison and discontent with their efforts, negatively affecting their motivation to keep building.

Through the prophet Haggai, God reminded them that He doesn’t compare our past to our present or our future, so neither should we. God is constantly equipping us with strength and resources to be productive in the present, to bring Him glory now and in the future.

In fact, to demonstrate the importance of not falling for the comparison trap, we need only fast forward from Haggai chapter two to Luke chapter two.

You see, the smaller temple that the Hebrew elders nearly didn’t build was the same temple in which Jesus Christ was revealed as the Messiah to Simeon and to Anna.

Talk about an upgrade!

Yes, the temple was smaller in size, but within it was presented the greatest of all of God’s gifts to us, His Son, Jesus Christ, Savior of the World!

Dear heart, we all get caught in the comparison trap of accomplishment, or looks, or wealth, or popularity sometimes. We compare ourselves to our former selves, to our ideal selves, and to other people. Goodness, we even compare ourselves to fictional characters on television or in books. Like the Hebrew people of old, we look at what we have or what we’ve done and we feel somehow that it is “less”; we become discouraged and discontent and we lose the motivation to keep going.

What do we do then when the comparison trap springs?

As one of my favorite writers and teachers says, “Discouragement is real, but it’s not real estate. You don’t have to live there.”

Look at what God did with the temple that the Hebrew people rebuilt! He used it to reveal His mightiest work!

Beloved, God is doing a great work in you too!

Not in your past – That’s done and gone.

Not in some ideal world. – He is doing great things in the here and now!

Stop comparing. Simply trust and obey.

Walk alongside the Lord and be amazed at what He reveals and rebuilds in your life!