Yesterday we left the hammer laying in the rubble.
They had started to build and they knew God told them to build. They had already laid the foundation, but the opposition came, they got discouraged, and eventually they just stopped building.
I get it.
I've had things I knew God put in my heart that I started with so much fire, and then life happened. People happened. Discouragement happened. And somewhere along the way I put the hammer down.
But God wasn't done with them.(or us)
He sent Haggai and Zechariah to remind them, and they got back up and started building again. And wouldn't you know it the opposition came right back. Same questions. Same pressure. Same who told you that you could do this. But this time they kept building. They didn't let it stop them.
Spiritual growth isn't that the thing that stopped us before never comes back to try and stop us again. Because it will. Spiritual growth is when it comes back and it doesn't stop us this time.
I don't know about you but I'm not the same person who put that hammer down. I've learned some things. I've seen God do some things. I know His faithfulness a little differently now.
The People keep building. And then God steps in and does what God does. They go digging through the records trying to figure out who gave these people permission to build, and they find the original order from Cyrus. They found the receipts....the Evidence!
Not only does Darius tell them to leave the builders alone, he tells them to help pay for it and give them what they need. Wow right. The very thing meant to stop them ended up helping provide for what God hadbtold them to build.
You can't make this stuff up.
And this time they finished it.
I needed from Ezra today. Yesterday I had to ask myself where I had put the hammer down.
Today God is reminding me that I can pick it back up. Its not over. Just because I stopped doesn't mean He changed His mind. Just because I got discouraged doesn't mean the calling disappeared. And just because I faced something once and it knocked me down doesn't mean it gets to do the same thing the next time.
Are there are some old hammers laying around that it's time for you to pick back up?
Some things God stirred in you that aren't dead.
They're just unfinished. And unfinished isn't the same thing as over.
So lets pick the hammer back up.
And this time when the opposition comes, remember that we've been here before.
God was faithful then.
And He'll be faithful now.
Keep building. And this time finish.
Return. Rebuild. Restore.
Love Pastor Mandy
Daily reading Ezra 5-6
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
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