21 Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” 23 So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer...
28 And I said to them, “You are holy to the Lord; the articles are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers...
31 Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road.
Dear God,
I find it easy to quip my trust in You. I can wax loquacious in prayer, testimony, or sermon. But the question that is on my mind this morning is "Is my testimony mere words? Do I really trust You?"
Ezra was faced with a similar challenge. King Artaxerxes had just commissioned Ezra's return to Jerusalem, loaded with Babylon's silver and gold, along with a decree to offer worship to You.
Upon their departure from Babylon, Ezra, the Levites, and over one thousand men gathered at the Ahava river. Ezra had bragged upon Your greatness and ability to protect Your people. He was tempted to have second thoughts when he considered the millions of dollars worth of gold and silver he and his men were carrying through a bandit infested desert road to Jerusalem. The natural thought was to make a request of King Artaxerxes for a detachment of soldiers to travel alongside the returning Hebrews. Ezra realized that such a request would diminish Your greatness and ability to protect Your people in the eyes of the pagan king. So Ezra went to prayer.
Ezra's example inspires me. In the face of fear, he prayed, and invited others to fast and pray with him. I don't know how long the Hebrew contingent fasted and prayed, but it was long enough to get an answer from You. Through prayer, You showed Ezra a plan to divide the gold and silver among twelve of the priests. He challenged them to holiness and honor in delivering their trust to the temple. At the weigh-in in the temple at Jerusalem, integrity won the day. God protected the returning remnant, and His holiness triumphed.
Prayer, faith, and fasting anchored Ezra and the people of God and protected them with a safety that even a detachment of the king's soldiers could not have provided.
Lord, teach me to trust You for my safety. You have called me to take some major risks for You. It is easy for me to look for contingency plans that are based in fear, not faith. I often want to call for my detachment of soldiers! You tell me to seek Your face.
So, I seek You. I seek You until I hear from You with direction. I need Your plan. The people that I lead need Your plan. They deserve to have a leader who spends time alone with You discerning Your direction.
Thank You that even the heart of the king is in Your hand. Thank You for meeting with us in our prayer and fasting. Thank You that You are our protection upon the desert road. Thank You that You are our defense as we ascend from Jericho to Jerusalem upon that bandit infested highway.
I trust You.
In the Name of my ever living Lord,
Amen.
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