Living Out Our Calling in the Face of Fear
When we follow God’s leading in our lives, we will often encounter challenges and face opposition. The Jews whose hearts God had moved to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple were afraid of the people around them (Ezra 3:3). Yet, despite their fear, they built an altar to God and offered sacrifices on it. They had responded in obedience to God’s call and were prepared to follow His leading in the face of fear. We, too, can experience this kind of courage as we follow God and His plans for us. There is something powerful about knowing that we are doing what God wants that emboldens us to attempt the difficult and even what looks impossible. Besides, as Walt Disney was known to say, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
I don’t usually get very excited about those chapters in the Bible that contain lists of names. In Ezra 2, we find a list of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem. What is significant about this list is that they are the ones who responded in obedience when God moved in their hearts (Ezra 1:5). May we, too, be on God’s list today of those who obey His promptings.
The Israelites languished in captivity until the day when God moved the heart of their captor king, the mighty King Cyrus of Persia (Ezra 1). At the Lord’s prompting, Cyrus proclaimed that the Israelites could return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Not only did God move the king’s heart, he also stirred the hearts of some of the Jews to seize this amazing opportunity.