Today I read the first chapter of Ezra and I
was surprised by the encouragement that I found there relating to our support
raising. The chapter describes how God
instructed Cyrus, the Persian king, to direct the rebuilding of the temple by
sending some of the Israelites back to Jerusalem and instructing others to help
them by providing goods and monetary help as well.
Verses five and six say, "Then the family
heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites--everyone whose heart God had moved--prepared to go up and build the
house of the LORD in Jerusalem. All their neighbors assisted them with
articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts,
in addition to all the freewill offerings."
Obviously the return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple was a pretty different
scenario than Derek and I going to Cusco as missionaries, but it was such an
encouragement to hear how God ordained this to happen and orchestrated it,
moving in people's hearts and enabling the whole process. He knew His people would need help to do what
He was asking of them and so He made it happen.
I LOVE when my Bible reading seems to randomly line up with the events and situations of my life. I've been thinking for several days about studying Ezra because it is a book that I have not read through in a very long time. What a blessing it has already turned out to be!
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