Little is Much

 Nehemiah 7:70 Now some of the heads of fathers’ houses gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury …

Talk about dedication.

The people who came back to Jerusalem and helped rebuild the walls were a dedicated group of people. 

✅First, they made the decision to leave their well-established lives in Babylon to make the journey back to Jerusalem. For most, if not all of them, they were like pioneers, not knowing just what life would be like when they arrived. 

✅Then, when they arrived in Jerusalem, their lives could not have been easy because the city was in such disarray. That meant no decent housing in which to live. No corner stores to purchase supplies and food.

✅Third, they spent most of their time and energy on building the city walls, even though they did not have construction experience. The work was hard, energy-draining work.

✅On top of the workload, they had the danger from the enemies around them who wanted to thwart, if not stop completely, their work of rebuilding. 

Their dedication to the rebuilding is remarkable and heart-warming. 

✅Then, as though what they were doing already was not enough, we read of all the gifts of treasures they made towards the re-establishment of Jerusalem. 

The governor donated money and items, as did the heads of many homes. 

Their generosity led others to also give. They saw and felt the value of what they had been able to do, with God’s help, in a relatively short time, only seven months, according to Nehemiah 7:73. 

God's faithfulness to them spurred them to do even more.

You can tell they really were inspired by all that God had helped them do as a result of that one decision each had made - to leave their comfortable, predictable life in Babylon and become "pioneers."

As the song says, “Little is much when God is in it.”

Take Courage and Act

Ezra 7:28 Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

It was no small or insignificant task that Ezra was taking on.  

He was going to be going back to Israel to help rebuild Jerusalem. He had never been there, most likely having been born in Babylon after the Jews were taken captive by the Babylonians when they conquered the land of Israel. 

He had never done anything like this.  His background was all “wrong” for this task. He was a priest, a direct descendant of the first High Priest Aaron.

But Ezra took a deep breath, so to speak, and jumped right into the task at hand.  "I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me," Ezra tells us.

Where did he get that courage?

That courage to act came from his confidence of one thing: he knew the Lord’s hand was on him and would bring success.  

That gave him the courage to step out and prepare for the journey and the job ahead.  

In fact, earlier in the chapter, in verse 9-10 we are told that the hand of blessing of God was on Ezra specifically because he had set his heart to study, obey, and teach God’s Word.  

That determination gave Ezra what he needed to take on that big task. He knew he had all he needed to carry him through the daunting task that lay ahead for him and his people.

If we know God’s hand is on us for a task, 

     if we have determined to know and obey God's will,

         we can step up and act courageously.  

And do so successfully, because God's hand will be on us with blessing.