The first Temple was destroyed by
king Nebuchadnezzar. He took the Israelites with him to Babylon and
forced them to work for him. The Israelites were in exile for 70
years, the number of years that the land didn't have its 'Sabbath'
rests due to Israel's disobedience. But God was gracious and good
and allowed them to return to their land after the 70 years. And
not only did He allow them to return, He helped them to rebuild the
Temple.
God ordained it that King Cyrus
decreed that the Temple must be rebuilt and that the gold utensils
that Nebuchadnezzar took had to be returned (Ezra 6:3-5). God
stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites to return to
Jerusalem and all their neighbors gave silver and gold and supplies
for the journey (Ezra 1:5, 6). All and all with donations received,
5 400 gold and silver items were turned over to the exiles to
take to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:11). Also some of the leaders gave
generously to rebuild the Temple - 61 000 gold coins,
6 250 pounds of silver and 100 robes for the priests (Ezra
2:69). And if that was not enough, Artaxerxes also decreed that
silver and gold be dedicated towards the temple (Ezra 7:11-24).
God truly supplied all that they
needed to rebuild the Temple. God ordained it all. They didn't need
to fret and worry about where the supply will come from, they
didn't need to even ask for supplies, God stirred the hearts of
people and they gave willingly. Isn't it wonderful?
The Israelites in exile were down
and out because they turned their backs on God, but the moment they
repented and turned back to Him, He helped them. Doesn't that just
show us the Father heart of God? Though they sinned woefully
against Him, He immediately came to their aid to help them.
The same is true for us. No matter
what we have done, our Father in Heaven waits for us to turn to
Him. Do you realize that everything He does, He does so that we can
turn back to Him? His main aim is to have us in His presence
always. He loves us with an infinite love and wants us by His side.
And no matter the sins we committed, if we turn to Him and start to
walk in His ways, He will help us and lead us just like He did with
the Israelites. He will help us to rebuild the 'Temple' in our
lives. He will provide all the supplies that we need. We will never
be in lack when we walk by His side and on the road that He has
planned for us. All we need to do is to stay close to Him. But as
we saw last week, Satan wants to keep us busy, preoccupied, so that
we do not have the quality time that we need with our Father. He
wants us focused on earthly 'gods' rather than on the one true
God.
The time has come to leave 'gods'
and stress behind and to walk in His ways, completely trusting Him.
I know that we are all busy, but even when we are, we can still
walk with our heads in the clouds, focused on Him, thinking His
thoughts about certain situations. And yes, it is possible. Paul
says we must pray always. And I think what he meant is that we must
always walk with a 'God-mentality', with a 'God-centeredness'
despite our busy schedules. Praying always means that we must allow
His Spirit to work through us and in our lives in extraordinary
ways. We must allow Him to flow through and to accomplish His
purposes in our lives. He desperately wants to. He wants to help in
every area of your life. Allow Him to.
Father, thank you that You are
always there to help us. That You are always willing to guide us
and to lead us unto the best pathways for our lives. We want You to
flow mightily through us and accomplish Your will on this earth
through us. Amen