"He Answered Our Prayer"

I finished Ezra up last night by reading the last three chapters in one sitting. It was nice to read them through without waiting a day. I feel like I got to know Ezra better . . . mainly because he was actually in these three chapters! haha. ; )

So, like a said, I'm going to focus on one or two things that made a difference to me or impacted the way I think. (I'll still blog the different chapters separately, however.)

There is a section of chapter eight, right in the middle, where Ezra has the people fast and pray. Essentially they are humbling themselves before God and asking for his protection as they journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.

Ezra had the people diligently seeking God for protection because he knew they would need it during the 4 month journey back. He and the people had also boldly told the king, "The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him." And now he felt too ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers as they traveled back. I mean, yeah, I probably would be too. 'Oh, King, our God is big enough to protect us . . . but you know, uh, could we ask you for . . .' Yeah, that just wouldn't fly.

So, what do the people do? They put their trust where their mouth was and humbly asked God to provide the safety they needed. And you know what, "He answered our prayer" 8:23b.

That isn't to say they didn't run into the enemy on the way back. They were almost ambushed on the trip home but read this, "He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road" 8:31b.

So, here's the old cliche that we probably all know: God may not remove the trouble but He will be there as we go through it. We just gotta trust. Oh, how that's so hard at times. But perhaps if we humbled ourselves more before God, it would become easier.

Or, like a young couple I know of (I went to school with their younger siblings), they knew that to stay strong in God they needed to be in a position where they had to rely on Him 24/7 for their very life. He put them in that position, and they are strong as ever. And . . . more in love than ever before! ; ) Hey, trusting God has it's perks. haha.

To hear their story, click here.