The Labor of the Test

Read: Ezra 3
“11 They sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, saying, For He is good, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid!” Ezra 3:11

Examine:
The praise represented in this story is backed by 70 years of pain and turmoil. For 70 years the Israelites paid for the mistakes of their forefathers and during the 2 years leading up to this moment they worked in the midst of much danger to complete the foundation of the temple. At last they completed their small part of a large project and then; they danced!

Apply:
I want the dance, but not the years leading up to it. The years leading up to a breakthrough are painful. They represent God stripping me down and purifying me. They represent God transforming the man I am into the man He desires me to be. The years leading up to a moment of great praise are desert times of heat, pressure, coldness, distance, isolation, and labor. It is in the years leading, however, that God establishes character and the very foundation for the praise. If you take away the testing then praising God is not much more than a temporary high that is no different than a movie, a concert, or a great dinner. The labor of the test sweetens the moment of praise. The labor of the test creates a monument that will never be forgotten. The labor of the test makes me dance harder, sing louder, and love greater. The labor of the test steals me away from entitlement and safely delivers me into the hands of gratitude.

Pray:
Eleven years ago I stood in the back yard of my home in Kosciusko and made a bold declaration. My life was a mess at the time, but I had turned back to You. That moment in my back yard I was really tempted to run from the work that I sensed You desired to do in my life. However, the declaration I made was to stand firm. I told You I was in this for the long run and would not back down again.

Today I sit in South Africa on a cold winter morning and it is an awesome time of reflection. I have seen You hold together a marriage that should have died after its first year. I have seen You guide me through a career path that was full of deep challenges, desperate failures, and despondent seasons. I have struggled as You shifted the focus of my faith from the desires of my flesh toward the perfectness of Your heart. When I made that statement eleven years ago, I would have never imagined some of the struggles or where the journey would carry me.

Today, I am not at a place of total praise and dancing. The labor of the test continues to press me towards the moment of praise, but I am not there yet. I am, however, deeply satisfied to sit here today and say that only by Your grace have I made good on that promise from eleven years ago. I have been very imperfect and my failures cannot even begin to be counted. That said, I have always gotten up, centered my heart back to You, swallowed my pride, and gotten back to work. Thank You for Your faithfulness, Your grace, and Your strength. I look forward to finishing this journey and above all I look toward the day when I leave this life and my reward is handed to me in full.