God-backed security

Today: Ezra 4-7

Probably because of the Great Recession, I've noticed lately that there are lots of ads for banks and financial institutions that talk about security. These companies continually talk about how your finances can be "backed by the FDIC", "insured", "guaranteed" and "safe."

It's all right to have security backed by a bank or the U.S. government--but the best kind of security is God-backed security. I love that when God REALLY gets behind something or someone, it's clear. Sometimes when I have big stuff in front of me, I'll pray simply, "God, make it obvious." And so far, He has.

In today's passage, God's backing was crystal clear: He wanted His people to rebuild His House. Not only did He get them out of captivity to do so, their captors provided HUGE financial resources to make the work possible. Take a look at Ezra's words here:

Blessed be God, the God-of-Our-Fathers,

who put it in the mind of the king

to beautify The Temple of God in Jerusalem!

Not only that, he caused

the king and all his advisors and influential officials

actually to like me and back me.

My God was on my side and I was ready to go.

And I organized all the leaders of Israel to go with me.

You can tell by Ezra's words here that he was a little dumbfounded at God's orchestration of events. God-backed security is like that sometimes--it's so over-the-top amazing that it seems "too good to be true"--but it is!

If you're reading this, I'd love to encourage you with a few things:

• Ask God for wisdom, so that you can make decisions aligned with His backing.
  
• The "God, make it obvious" prayer is a good one, but it's not for the faint of heart--you have to be willing to let doors slam shut in your face occasionally. On the flip side, you also have to be willing to look for the open doors, sometimes in unexpected places.
  
• Ask God for His backing. He wants to help us, but sometimes we just forget to ask.
  

Tomorrow: Ezra 8-10