Oct 6

October 6, 2012

 

It is hard to believe that ten months have gone by since we started our Bible reading journey. I would like to thank all the blog writers for their daily commitment to this great task. Their insights have challenged and inspired me.

 

If you have found yourself falling behind in the reading, I encourage you to just pick up where we are today. It's is a great day to reignite your commitment to reading the Word of God. 

 

Today, we see the return of Ezra and his 1500 companions. There is an interesting development in verses 21-23 of chapter 8. Evidently, Ezra tells the king that God will protect him during the journey so the king takes him at his word and does not assign a military contingent to accompany them. Then just a few days before the 800 mile journey, Ezra wakes up in the middle of the night and has an "aha" moment. "What I have done is crazy." There are bandits and a lot of bad guys on the way to Jerusalem. I am sure he had second thoughts, and devised a plan to ask the king for a military unit with tanks and armored vehicles to shadow them. But Ezra was a kingdom-minded guy and he thought that this would send a wrong signal to a skeptical and non-believing king. The king would think, "If God is able to protect this guy, why would he need my marines?" So, Ezra reconsiders his fears and decides to have prayer become his protection.

 

While we were in Africa three years ago, we too, prayed for God's protection. And we saw his protection every day. The first day of the conference Satan mounted a ferocious attack against us. At lunch, a mini-tornado formed and started moving towards the women's tent. We watched in horror as it lifted the huge tent and flipped it over on its back. In the process, the metal poles hit several of the women. Ruth Goulart was one of those hit. The pole hit her on the side of the head and glanced off. If it had hit her squarely on her head she would have been seriously, if not fatally injured. This event heightened our awareness of the battle that we faced every day. It also united us together in standing against any further attacks.

 

Ezra believed in prayer. He believed that when we pray, the hand of God is moved in a way it would not be otherwise. This does not mean that we will receive an "exempt" card from the problems of life. Ezra still had to walk the 800 miles. But at each step of the journey, he was confident that his God was his protection. 

 

If God seems far from you today, take a day to fast and pray. If you have a great challenge in front of you, take a day to fast and pray. It is then that you will be able to say with Ezra, "So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer."