"Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God… The expenses of these men are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury." — Ezra 6:7a, 8b
God can turn things around in amazing ways. Take the time the Israelites had been exiled for seventy-some years. Then, out of nowhere, the Lord stirred up Cyrus, the king of Persia, to send this scruffy bunch of exiles back to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. Who would have dreamed it would happen that way? But the best was yet to come.
Rebuilding the temple wasn't easy. The Jewish refugees had enemies…threats were made… vandalism…the people became discouraged. Soon work on the temple ground to a halt.
Imagine how frustrating that was. God had seemingly opened the door for the Jews to rebuild the temple; yet everything was against them. The Israelites encountered nothing but opposition. Why would the Lord prevent that which He wanted?
Then came the turnaround. God sent two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, to inspire the people to begin building again. Of course, the enemies were still hanging around. Those enemies, in an attempt to demoralize the people, wrote a letter to Darius, the new king of Persia, asking him to stop, once and for all, the building of the temple. But the letter backfired. Darius found the original decree from Cyrus, and the result was stunning: Darius wrote back that the enemies were to leave the work on God's house alone, and what's more, they were to pay the full cost of rebuilding out of their tax money.
Now you see why God had planned the setbacks. He did so to insure that the temple would not only be built but paid for!
Are you in the middle of some setback? Maybe God has opened a door only to slam it shut. Remember these words from an old hymn, "Judge not the Lord by what you sense, but trust Him for His grace…behind His frowning providence, He hides a smiling face."
Help me to believe, God, that behind Your seeming frown is Your smile of blessing.
JONI EARECKSON TADA, Devotional, January 31, 2006.
1 comment:
I think this devotional takes on more meaning if you realize who wrote this. She became a quadriplegic as a teenager in a swimming accident. Since then, she has had to depend on someone else to bathe, feed, clothe, and clean up after her. If she can see a plan in her life after her "setbacks", it makes me feel like my minor ones compared to hers can be more tolerated. To be able to write this devotional, apparently, she has seen the setbacks in her life as God's plan for a greater purpose instead of a door slamming on her. K.Pirkle
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