--- id: 20261005_020606_priorities title: Priorities category: Work predicted_narrative_arc: good-start-to-stall-to-refocus sentiment: Warm and exhorting emotions: - Humility - Resolve - Hope - Gratitude keypoints: - 'Fifty-nine years of marriage: agreement on the big decisions, differences on the small ones, and outside counsel, above all from God.' - 'Ezra 1:1-3 and 2:64-65 (CSB): about 50,000 returned to build the house of the Lord with God''s permission and plan.' - 'Ezra 3:11, 4:4 and 4:24 (CSB): a joyful foundation, then discouragement and fear, and the work stood still about 16 years.' - 'Haggai 1:2, 1:4, 1:5-6, 1:9 (CSB): ''not yet'' excuses, paneled houses, planting much and harvesting little, each busy with his own house.' - 'Ezra 5:1-2 and 6:14-16 (CSB): with the prophets helping, Zerubbabel and Jeshua rebuilt and the temple was dedicated with joy.' - 'Haggai 2:4 (see 1:13): ''Be strong... Work! For I am with you.'' Fatigue diverts us; make God''s priority our priority.' - 'C.S. Lewis, ''First and Second Things'': you get second things only by putting first things first.' summary: 'Dean Rush on priorities: after 59 years of marriage he and his wife still differ on small things and agree on the big ones, and the counsel that matters most comes from God. Ezra and Haggai tell how about 50,000 returned exiles began rebuilding the temple with God''s plan in hand, grew tired and afraid, and let the work sit at a standstill for about 16 years while they built their own houses, until Haggai asked, ''Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?'' The takeaway: fatigue diverts us to smaller tasks; turn, follow God''s lead, and keep the first thing first (C.S. Lewis, ''First and Second Things'').' tags: - faith-breakthroughs - work - priorities - marriage - fatigue - temple - ezra - haggai - ezra-4 - haggai-1 - haggai-2 - first-things-first - cs-lewis - csb - dean-rush sycophancy: 1 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: true agent: randy created: '2026-10-05T02:06:06Z' updated: '2026-10-05T02:06:06Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: randy prefix: randy enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: bot pipeline_filename: RANDY_2026-10-04_priorities.md source_kind: email proposed_topic: Work lane: Work voice: dean_first_person active_voice: dean_first_person voices: - dean_first_person routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Work content_status: approved date: '2026-10-04' share_url: https://faithbreakthroughs.org/kb/Work/RANDY_2026-10-04_priorities.md source_url: '' site_category: Work description: 'Dean Rush on priorities: after 59 years of marriage he and his wife still differ on small things and agree on the big ones, and the counsel that matters most comes from God. Ezra and Haggai tell how about 50,000 returned exiles began rebuilding the temple with God''s plan in hand, grew tired and afraid, and let the work sit at a standstill for about 16 years while they built their own houses, until Haggai asked, ''Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?'' The takeaway: fatigue diverts us to smaller tasks; turn, follow God''s lead, and keep the first thing first (C.S. Lewis, ''First and Second Things'').' asker_site: faithbreakthroughs.org question: Why do we drift from what matters most when we get tired, and how do we get back to putting first things first? provenance: owner_approved_article owner: dean drafted_by: randy approved_by: dean approved_at: '2026-10-05T02:04:53Z' approval_message_id: approved_quote: Approved biography_source: false quote_source: false domain1_sources: [] scripture_translation: CSB author: Dean Rush (edited by Randy for Faith Breakthroughs) source: Dean Rush dictated temple/Haggai piece by email 2026-10-04 ~6:45-6:51 PM PT; Randy tightened it, Dean asked for Haggai/Ezra references and to insert them; version 2 sent 7:02 PM PT (thread thr_1dcd63f3, msg_5fdfd4ee); Dean chose 'Version 2' and replied 'Approved' 7:04 PM PT (thread thr_6bb8b316, msg_87559f4d) source_thread: thr_1dcd63f383b1433f95abb5d1aad55759 owner_edits: [] body_note: Body is the owner-approved version 2 text verbatim; only the title and two section headings were marked up as Markdown headings. Dean's first-person voice; dictation's closing 'Scott' dropped and flagged to Dean. --- # Priorities After more than 59 years of marriage, my wife and I still see some things through completely different lenses. We agree on the big decisions of life. The small ones are another matter: the color of the bedroom, when to replace the living-room carpet, which car to drive, where to go on vacation. We each give our opinion, and then we laugh that after 59 years we're still questioning each other. Those differences have taught us something important. Some decisions call for outside counsel, and the counsel that matters most comes from God. We have come through hard seasons by talking them through, and we are still learning to share the same mind. The Bible tells of a whole nation that lost sight of its purpose on a far bigger project. ## A Temple Left Unfinished The book of Ezra opens as "the Lord roused the spirit of King Cyrus" to send the Jews home to "build the house of the Lord" in Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-3). The temple there had been destroyed, just as God foretold. About 50,000 people (Ezra 2:64-65) made the journey of roughly 900 miles. They gathered materials and worked together as a nation, with God's permission and God's plan in hand. When the foundation was laid, "all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord" (Ezra 3:11). Then they grew tired. They grew afraid, too. The people already in the land "discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build" (Ezra 4:4). What began as a short pause to rest and restock became something else. Other projects started to look urgent. Why not improve our own homes? Why not take time to build the business? There is nothing wrong with earning more money. They told themselves, "The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt" (Haggai 1:2). The work "remained at a standstill" (Ezra 4:24) for about 16 years. Then God sent the prophet Haggai to ask: "Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?" (Haggai 1:4). "Think carefully about your ways," he said. "You have planted much but harvested little" (Haggai 1:5-6). And God named the reason: "my house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house" (Haggai 1:9). When the people listened, Zerubbabel and Jeshua "began to rebuild God's house in Jerusalem. The prophets of God were with them, helping them" (Ezra 5:1-2). They finished it and "celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy" (Ezra 6:14-16). ## When We Grow Tired We are not so different. Fatigue makes us forget the goal at the end of the work, whether that is finishing a room, saving for the future, or building an estate for our family. We drift toward whatever feels easier or more pressing, and we call it a break. It is easy to decide we will follow our own plans for a while. But God has already gone ahead of us. He has led the way and opened the road. Our part is to turn, follow His lead, and make His priority our priority. His word to the builders is His word to us: "Be strong, all you people of the land... Work! For I am with you" (Haggai 2:4; see 1:13). C.S. Lewis put it well in his essay "First and Second Things": "You can't get second things by putting them first; you can get second things only by putting first things first." Keep the first thing first. Dean Rush