February 12, 2008
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Changing hearts
“…the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God…” Ezr 6:22
As I read Ezra and Nehemiah, I am reminded that in every work of God that you do, there will always be someone to oppose you. But those who oppose you will never win if it is the work of God that you are in. (Yes, those rhymes are on purpose!)
God can change the hearts and attitudes of those who oppose you when you are following God.
It’s pretty miraculous when we think about it — God changed the attitude of Israel’s captors. The king of Persia was the ruler of the super-power in the known world. He had no duty or obligation to release the Israelites to rebuild their temple. He answered to nobody. So what would compel him to not only permit the Israelites to rebuild the temple but to also finance the undertaking? God.
I don’t know about you, but it’s easy for me to be overwhelmed by the difficulties and challenges that I face when I follow God. It’s easy for me to feel discouraged and wonder, “But if I am following God, why would someone oppose?” But reading Ezra and Nehemiah, I am reminded that even when you are doing what God wants you to do, there will always be people who will come to you to purposely try to discourage you by telling you all the things that could go wrong, telling you how weak your skills are and even go to the point of attacking you, mocking you and ridiculing you. Nehemiah reminds me to pray for those who are not on the same page, and the book of Ezra reveals that God can change hearts so that those who oppose can be transformed to become those who embrace, support and encourage.
Comments (6)
Thank you, MA.
Greetings from China! MA, your words continue to minister to me. Thanks for the postings..
interesting.. I was just reading that last week because I was going through something similar!
@abdulk -
hey glad to hear from you again. thanks for the encouraging affirmation.
@jojoworld -
glad to echo your own thoughts.
@searchingfortreasures -
ps. although I am unable to access xanga in China, I am still able to read all your posting via my email updates. Again, I hope you’re aware of such a marvelous gift the Father has given you.. that is, the able to minister to people through your wonderful writings. I consider your writings food for the soul, similar to “chicken soup”. Looking forward to the day when you feel led to publish your first book. Keep up the good work.