SCRIPTURE: Ezra 7
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
This Ezra was a scribe who was well versed in the Law of Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given to the people of Israel. He came up to Jerusalem from Babylon, and the king gave him everything he asked for, because the gracious hand of the Lord his God was on him. [Ezra 7:6]
The gracious hand of the Lord was on him; can I say the same for myself?
Is there a sense that all followers of Jesus can say this – for how else do we understand the Holy Spirit in us?
The Spirit of Jesus in and with us is the gracious hand of the Lord our God upon us.
When we walk in step with the Spirit, we experience His favour and He arranges our lives around us for His glory and for our good.
The key is being surrendered to the Lord, so that He can work in and through us.
Ezra demonstrated himself to be surrendered to the Lord, eager to love and obey and serve Him.
His humble, loving and obedient heart was like an open sail, open to the wind of the Spirit to be directed for God.
And God unfolds His good plan for Israel through him, even making sure that the necessary resources was there for him to full that mission.
Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and all the people. [Luke 2:52].
As Jesus surrenders to God and to His purpose, He experiences the favour of God and the people.
In others words, the Spirit of God and the spirit (heart, love) of the people was with Him.
As a result, all things in Jesus life were working out in a good way.
God unfolds His good plan for the world through him, even making sure that the necessary resources was there for him to full that mission.
Notice that this does not mean that He had an easy life, or that everything was comfortable or positive for Him; His life was hard, but everything He needed was provided for Him, and His heart’s deepest desire was met; God’s will was done through Him, and this is what He wanted more than anything else!
I do believe this to be true for all of us that surrender to the Lord, to loving and serving and obeying Him.
As we open our sails to the Lord and His purpose, the favour and blessing of His Spirit fills us and directs us to succeed in our desire to honour God and do His will.
This does not mean that life will be easy for us, but God will arrange for everything we need to succeed!
And yes, we will experience many times when God will miraculously arrange to provide resources from unexpected places; God will provide, His favour will be evident i our lives.
God’s favour was with Joseph, and he prospered in the Lord’s purpose; God’s favour was with Ruth, and she prospered in His purpose; God’s favour was with Esther, Daniel, David and Ezra, and they all prospered in the Lord’s purpose.
Because God’s favour was with Ezra and Jesus, even the people around them favoured them.
They saw something different in them and were drawn towards it; they couldn’t help note and appreciate the quality of their surrendered, Spirit-filled lives.
The same is true of us: the gracious hand of the Lord our God is on us [Ezra 7:6]; the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. [Luke 4:18]
PRAYER:
Lord, help me to believe that I live and serve under Your favour, with Your Spirit working in and through me. Help me to anticipate that You will make me favourable to those around me, and through them provide everything I need to fulfill Your purpose.