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.
 

Just Do It Afraid

 

Ezra 3:3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord …

I suppose that as long as we live on this earth there will always be someone or something around to cause us to be afraid, or to feel fear or feel threatened.  

But fear should not, it cannot, be allowed to keep us from doing the right thing.  Sometimes we have to do what is right even if we feel afraid.   

Fear can paralyze us, but only if we allow it to do so.  If our desire to please God and to honor Him is strong enough it will give us the extra courage we need to overcome our fear and do what needs to be done.  

I remember reading the story of a little girl who felt afraid to go to school for the first time. He mother said to the child, 

“Just do it afraid.”   

 It happened that way for those Jews in Ezra’s time.  

That is what the Jews did when they rebuilt the altar in Jerusalem.The passage does not say why they were afraid of the people around them, but it does not really matter.  The important thing is that they went ahead despite their fear and did the right thing, the thing they should do.   

They did it because of “what is written” (v.4).  After they took that initial step, they presented regular burnt offerings (v.5).

The first step was the hardest, but it got them going on the right track and in the right direction.

They did it afraid. 

"And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments came forward with trumpets, an the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord. ... And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation  of the house of the Lord was laid." ~ Ezra 3:10-11

"Unimportant" People

 

Ezra 2:1 Now these were the people …

Does what we are and what we do as “unknowns” in our generation matter?  Essentially, in the grand scheme of life, I am not important.

I am not a person of importance; I am not famous for having or doing anything in particular. Does that mean that what kind of person I am or what I do is unimportant?  Is the idea of “unimportant” a valid one?

This chapter in Ezra lists people who were willing to take on a big trip and the enormous task of traveling to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the city and the temple.  42,360+ people made the trip to Jerusalem, most of whom we do not know even their names, much less what they did specifically when they got to Jerusalem. 

But we know what motivated them.

Chances are none of them had ever been to Judah since the Israelites had been taken captive at least one generation earlier, so my guess is that these people had been born in Babylon.  I am quite certain their motivation was not to go down in history as names in the Bible I am reading over 2000 years later.   

No, I rather think they just wanted to follow God’s leading and calling on them to rebuild the temple, the house of God.  

But here I am, thousands of years later, reading of their choice to serve God in this way.  They wanted to help make a difference, so they left the home, family and friends they knew in Babylon to do so.

May that be my legacy into the future also; known for my desire and active participation in God's plan.

Even if no one even knows my name.  Even if I remain "unimportant."

Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.  ~ 1 Corinthians 4:2

... that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments ... ~ Psalm 78:6-7