Haggai 1:9-11

See how much we need God -- Haggai 1:9-11: Our failure to obey God makes it impossible for Him to bless us. These people expected much, but received only a little. Even the little that they had would soon disappear without God. The reason this happened was because they put their own needs, wishes and desires before Him. God did not allow the earth to be fruitful for them. He said, "At my command everything will become barren--your farmland and pastures, your vineyards and olive trees, your animals and you yourselves. All your hard work will be for nothing." They should have already known this because in Deuteronomy 11:13-17 we read, "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you." A failure to put God first leads to an awful fate. He finds ways to show us how much we need Him. (Haggai 1:9-11) You can work hard, but without God's blessings it comes to nothing. In this case God stopped the rain and prevented the land from being productive. God wanted it understood that things do not provide security. Only God provides security. When we focus on things our heart is not set on God.