In Ezra 1-4, a community of people respond to God’s call upon their lives to move to Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple for worship. It’s a major decision. To obey God, they have to leave everything they’ve known behind – their homes, businesses, their community and friends.
In your own life, you may also have had to make hard decisions to leave things behind to pursue God. In my own journey, I’ve also had to leave things behind to obey God.
There were a couple significant points I noted in these Chapters that I thought you’d appreciate:
FIRST, when we decide to follow God, we’ll encounter three primary responses from others:
1) Some people in your life will be INDIFFERENT to your decision to follow God. They won’t care one way or the other. They’ll just stand by and watch. They may say, “that’s nice, for you” but, they don’t want any part of it for themselves (Ez. 2:64-67).
2) Others will SUPPORT & ENCOURAGE God’s work in your life. The Lord will move their heart; causing them to be someone who actively supports and encourages the work of God in your life (Ez. 1:1-7; 2:68)
3) Lastly, there’ll be people who’ll OPPOSE and intentionally work against your decision to respond to God. They’ll actively engage in efforts to discourage your decision, try to cause you to falter, and even try and make you afraid to follow through with your choice to walk with God (Ez. 4:1-5).
SECOND, God’s Word empowers us to overcome the fears we experience from opposition to our commitment to follow God.
As you face those who actively oppose God’s work in your life, expect times of personal doubts and of feeling afraid.
It’s normal to experience these emotions, but don’t let them fester or take root & discourage you.
Instead, cling to God! God is greater than any opposition you’ll ever encounter. He’s greater than your fears.
In times where you feel afraid to follow God, you overcome it by clinging to God’s Word for your life, putting His Word into practice, and finding His strength to stick to your decision to walk with God (Ez. 3:1-6).
~Brandon (Feb. 14, 2024)