The Promise of Provision

Read: Ezra 1
“4 And in any place where a survivor [of the Babylonian captivity of the Jews] sojourns, let the men of that place assist him with silver and gold, with goods and beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.” Ezra 1:4

Examine:
God had promised in Isaiah 45 (150 years prior to this declaration) that He would provide the resources of secret places to complete the rebuilding of His temple. In this verse we see that promise coming to life.

Apply:
For me, this comes back to the ministry of Jesus and the promises captured in the New Testament. Jesus said that all my needs were covered. He said that the Spirit of God would move in me such that I would be able to do even greater things than He. He said that if my faith would not waiver I would have anything I asked for according to His name.

Pray:
The past few days have represented a period of intense reflection over the work here, the attacks I am currently facing, and Your will for me in the middle of it all. I am constantly aware of the fact that we have dove head-first into an intense battle. This battle has been raging for years while Your church in America has for the most part sat idle as children are raped, abandoned, and left starving daily and an unfathomable number of people die daily from a horrific disease. Your church in America has sat idle while the saints around the world have held fast to their hope and prayed for relief. Your church in America has lavishly adorned its services and programs in an effort to generate engagement while the saints around the world have huddled together in dirty rooms and offered praise that dwarfs the most expensive services imaginable. Forgive us Father. Forgive me. I think back on the ways I have contributed to both creating and participating in the exuberant waste and my only response is that I am deeply grateful for Your grace.

I sit this morning with the image of Winnie and Pretty and Ignatia and all the other saints in this place singing to You about Your greatness and their love of You and it stirs inside of me deeply. I see Stu and Sam and their team and there is a fire in their eyes and a joy in their heart that offers life I have not seen before. They have all held firm to their hope that You would one day fulfill Your promise and deliver this place. They have not lost hope that Your church would awaken, take what has been so freely given, and invest it in the rebuilding of Your work here. They have lived daily in a world that I can’t imagine and yet their joy in You far exceeds mine.

You brought me here to fight for them, to help resource them, and to love them. I am inadequate to do any of these on my own. I step out in faith trusting that You have truly called me into this work and that You will raise up others around me to support the rebuilding here. Use me as You wish. My life is not my own. I am compelled to do only that to which You have called me. I ask that Your anointing on my life, words and actions be strong and ever present before me.