With God's Will There is a Way, and He is the Way

"Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel-he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem." Ezra 1:2-4

King Cyrus made an incredible decree here. Not only would the Israelites be returning to Jerusalem to build God's temple, their neighbors were supposed to give them gold, silver, supplies, offerings, and animals to help them! And amazingly enough, they did! "And all who were about them aided them with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, with beasts, and with costly wares, besides all that was freely offered." Ezra 1:6

This is incredible. A rich king giving up his people and wealth. Everyday people giving away their money and wealth. And do you think for one second it was coincidence? NO!

"In the first year of Cyrus the king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing." Ezra 1:1

This incredible start of events was God stirring up hearts and His spoken word. How many of us would have seen the powerful king, all his subjects, and said, "Well, it was a nice idea, but it's not going to happen." We forget and take for granted the power of God. His word is more solid then oak, and He can move in hearts of stone to bring His will to pass. No matter how unlikely the outcome looks, we need to remember that with God's will there is a way, and He is the way. God will bring all things to pass-maybe with a bonus from the neighbors.


---Joy