The Mighty Hand of the LORD

Read: Ezra 8
“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a straight and right way for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.” Ezra 8:21

Examine:
Being humble before God shows total dependence on Him and acknowledges that He has absolute control of every aspect of life. Humility under the mighty hand of God releases the power for the Almighty to be manifested in a manner that alters reality, shapes the future, and echoes throughout eternity.

Apply:
The primary task in leadership for me as a man of God is to make sure that I am humbled in total reliance on God. Remaining in a posture of submission to and reliance on God is the only part of the mission I have any power to effect. It is the treasure worth selling everything to obtain, it is the obsession that is worth abandoning everything to pursue, and it is the mission that sets the course for every aspect of my existence. Nothing else in life matters compared to the importance of me laying face down before my God completely naked of anything that is of me.

Pray:
“If the mighty hand of the LORD is upon me I can do anything.” I lay that statement out before You this morning and ask that You help me evaluate the reaction of my heart to it. I want to be honest with You and say that I am not sure that I believe it. I know that is not the Sunday school answer but the actions of my life do not provide enough evidence to prove that I honestly believe this statement to be an undeniable fact. I spend way too much time worrying over particulars of practicality and far too little time making sure that my heart is submitted to You. If I really believed that the essential ingredient to success in this life and the one to come was Your hand upon me, I think the desperation with which I pray, the intensity with which I follow, and the celebration with which I worship would be far greater.

I do not want to fake-believe in anything regarding You, because that means the best result I can hope for is a fake-believe experience of You. Open my heart today Holy Spirit. I proclaim a fast today. At the end of these three days, I desire this statement to resound deep in my heart and be displayed with wisdom in my actions. I am not humble before my God as I should be, but I am asking for You to carry me to that place so that I may find from You a straight and right way for all who are involved in this great work set before us.