“And there by the Ahava Canal, I gave orders for all of us to fast and humble ourselves before our God. We prayed that he would give us a safe journey and protect us, our children, and our goods as we traveled. For I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to accompany us and protect us from enemies along the way. After all, we had told the king, “Our God’s hand of protection is on all who worship him, but his fierce anger rages against those who abandon him.” So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.”
Ezra 8:21-23 NLT
Christian’s don’t know how to trust God. They often times conflate trust of God with trust of his blessings. They trust the family he has given them, the money they now have and even the social network they have developed. The real test of a persons trust in God is whether we are willing to put those at stake to continue to follow him. Ezra knew that he had an opportunity to show God’s power to the people and to the king. This was what was at stake. He was concerned with being a good steward of the blessings he was transporting but more than this, his desire was to be godly in the way they were transported. This would be a demonstration for all of who God is. Wherever we arrive in God’s blessings, we should do so in God’s character as well. Whenever we take the pomp and circumstance afforded by the situation of blessing and parade it before onlookers, we rob God of the chance to show that character. We should be good stewards of what we have. But we should be worthy people too.
JOSH McGARY. COM 