Just a few days ago, after a year and a half, I finished reading chronologically through the Old Testament for the first time! This past month, I was especially struck by the story of the exiles returning to build the temple in Ezra and Nehemiah. Here is a people that have received from God what may have seemed like the worst possible punishment for their sin. They are forced to leave their land, live under the rule of another people, and go about every day with the knowledge that their own land sits in ruin and desolation but that there is nothing they can do about it. Seventy years go by, and suddenly, the king makes a proclamation: they can go back!! Imagine the excitement and the hope, the fulfillment of a nation-wide dream. Life will be right again, they will lack for nothing and want nothing. They pack up, make the long journey, and arrive. But things are not as they expected. There are enemies in power who will stop at nothing to prevent them from rebuilding the temple. God's people are scared, probably that they will lose their lives. So they stop doing what God has asked them to do. They focus on surviving each day. They build houses and plant crops and try to bring the glory days of Jerusalem back on their own. They start doing the very thing that got them exiled in the first place: they fail to put God and His commands first.
Even though they have forsaken God again, He doesn't throw up his hands and give upon them in frustration. He lovingly pleads with them, “Return to me and I will return to you!” (Zechariah 1:3). He doesn't let them run away from Him and stay separated. He says, “Look! When you disobey me, you are only shooting yourself in the foot. 'You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes' (Haggai 1:6). Seek me first and I promise I will provide for you! I promise it will be better for you to obey me than for you to try to do life on your own.” God encourages them that they can obey Him and He promises that He will provide the strength to do so. He says, “Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts...My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not” and “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Hag 2:3-5; Zech 4:6). And the people listen! The Bible says “the Lord stirred up the spirits” of the people, and “they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts” (Haggai 1:14). They said “'Let us rise up and build'” and “they strengthened their hands for the good work” (Nehemiah 2:18). Even though there are still forces at work against them, they choose to push on and obey, despite their fear. Finally, they realize that following God is worth more than their physical security. And God in turn rewards them: He promises them that He will restore Jerusalem beyond its former glory! It will once again be a peaceful place where people live and thrive, a place they can call their very own. God also stands by His Word and sends the Holy Spirit to help the Jews. Nehemiah says, “the wall was finished in fifty-two days” and their enemies “were afraid, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God” (Neh 6:15-16). The Jews were able to accomplish astonishing things when they put God first.
I want more than anything to be useful to God in India. I don't want to get side-tracked and end up wasting time and not doing what I came here to do in the first place. I don't want to waste energy worrying about things that God has promised He will provide for me. I don't want to live in fear of the numerous and powerful enemies around me. Instead I want to keep my eyes on Jesus and constantly abide in Him. I want to live in the power of His Spirit, accomplishing great things and rising victoriously over all my enemies. I want all this for the Indian church as well. I see Indian Christians worrying about having enough money for food or for the doctor or for their house, and my heart aches for them. I want them to live in peace, worry-free, as they make God their number one priority and watch Him provide for them in miraculous ways. May God give us all the grace, love and strength to desire and seek Him above all else!!!
Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ~Matthew 6:31-33