Grievance and Grace

Daily Reading: Ezra 4

The work on the house of God that is in Jerusalem stopped, and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. (Ezra 4.24)

Devotional Thought: The people of God had come to Jerusalem and been given permission to rebuild the Temple.  A group of detractors, who pretended as if they were on the same team, came to Zerubbabel and said, “Let us help you—after all, we worship the same God.”  Zerubbabel, sensing their deception, said, “No!”—a turndown that was not well received.  These antagonists got angry and tried to discourage God’s people as they worked.  They sought to induce fear and frustrate their efforts.  They bribed public officials and even went as far as writing a letter to the king—a letter filled with exaggerations and half-truths—that questioned their motives and said they were a threat to a peaceful nation. And the king believed them, ordering that the work on the Temple come to a halt.

How do we handle the delays of life?  How do we respond when God’s work is stymied by wicked and malicious forces? How do we reconcile an almighty and all-powerful God with the fact that, from time to time, those who defy and oppose him gain the upper hand and impede His work?  How do we handle it when our character is brought into question and our motives are misrepresented?  In grievance, do we show grace?

When you view Ezra 4 through this lens, you realize his world is not that far removed from ours.  We must remember that the power and effectiveness of our witness is not found in how we handle ourselves when everything is going well but, rather, it is found in how we respond at times when life is unfair.  May God grant to us, as he did those exiles in Jerusalem, the ability in grievance to show grace.

John Whitsett

Prayer: Father, I want to be on your team and a part of what you’re up to in the world.  At the same time, I know I’ll periodically encounter people and forces that are at odds with your agenda and will introduce delay.  Help me, when those times come, to carry and conduct myself in a way that honors you.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 95:1-5

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.

3 For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.