Encouraged By The Hand of God---Day 203 Through the Bible

Consider the degree to which God's hand is on our lives.

                                            
Ezra was a skilled scribe, an expert in the law that God gave Israel, and a man with "God-given wisdom" (Ezra 7:6,11, 25).  Verse 6, says, "the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him".  Ezra is one among many personalities in the Bible who had been faithful in developing skills and character that God would later use in His plan and purpose. In the parable of the talents, Jesus taught that those who are faithful over a few things will be made ruler over many things (Matthew 25:23).  The narrative continues in Ezra 7:9-10, ". . (Ezra) came to Jerusalem , according to the good hand of his God upon him.  For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel".

King Artaxerxes recognized Ezra as trustworthy.  He sent silver and gold, freely offered to the God of Israel. He included in his decree that after they had bought all the animals they needed for offerings to God, Ezra was at liberty to use the remaining silver and gold in whatever seemed good to them according to the will of their God. Not only that, but whatever more they might need for the house of God could be paid for out of the King's treasury. We might say Ezra was given a "blank check" by the King.  Of course, God gave Ezra favor with king and had no doubt prepared Ezra for this task.  Did God choose Ezra and then prepare him, or did he see Ezra's faithfulness and choose him for the job?  (Remember Cornelius in Acts 10?  An angel told him his prayers and alms had come up for a memorial before God; Cornelius is considered to be the first Gentile converted to the faith.)

Dr. Stanley comments, "Ezra's life demonstrates the importance not merely of learning and knowing the Word of God, but also of practicing how to regularly apply it in daily life". Ezra may have felt "cut off from God", in his captivity in Babylon.  The Psalmist expresses the feeling of being cut off from the hand of God in Psalm 88:1-5. All of us can probably identify with these emotions at some point in our lives.  However, Ezra remained faithful to God.  Ezra praised God for "(putting) such a thing as this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord" (verse 27). In Ezra 7:28, Ezra notes, "So I was encouraged as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me".  We could all use some encouragement and Ezra's example should motivate us to consider the degree to which God's hand is on our lives. Are we in a position to receive God's blessing and encouragement?

Proverbs 21:21, continues along this same theme and could have been written about Ezra: "He who follows righteousness and mercy finds life, righteousness, and honor".  And, as Dr. Stanley brings out in our reading in Acts 23, "God works in ways we cannot anticipate"--in this situation God allowed Paul's nephew to overhear the plan to ambush and kill Paul. His nephew communicated to the commander what he had heard and Paul was moved to Caesarea during the night.  Paul's nephew did what his uncle asked him to do and in so doing exhibited an attitude of obedience and faithfulness that contributed to the saving of Paul's life.