Day 7- February 28th 2007
Ezra 6: 1-12
When it comes to the unfolding of God’s purposes in history, it’s quite clear that God uses state authorities to intervene in order that things might happen. In this case, the search of the archives confirms that, indeed, Cyrus had decreed that the building be built. We wouldn’t be doing any of the construction across the street were in not for the approval of government authorities and I assure you that such approval doesn’t come easily. In our case it required a change of heart among lawyers for Seattle Schools, along with signatures from neighbors (just the right number, at just the right time), along with City Council approval to vacate at alley during a time when such a motion wasn’t politically expedient for leaders.
With Israel, we can look back and see that God has confirmed his purposes through these events. And also, with Israel, we can see that such confirmation is just the beginning of the story. The work must still be completed. Along the way, hearts must be shaped so as to conform to God’s purposes. Sacrificial giving must occur. And then, once built, God’s people must purpose to actively love God and their neighbors, committing to the vocation of being a blessing. But it all started with approval from authorities
King of Kings, We pause to give thanks that You guide us through the yeah or nay of authorities so often throughout our lives. Now Lord, having received the approval to continue with that to which we believe You’ve called us, we ask that You would grant us the vision to see this as but a starting point – knowing that unless we build on the foundation you have provided, our fate will be unfortunate. Grant us then to build into our lives that which is needed to honor you: service and humility, generosity and boldness, love and worship. Show us daily how you want us to repent – to live differently – so that you might be seen more clearly.
In Your Name we pray… Amen
Day 6 – February 27th 2007
Ezra 5:6-17
It would be nice if there were only one round of setbacks in life. Then we’d just plow through it, knowing that peace and fruitfulness await us just around the corner. Many times, whether on bike trips or tennis courts I’ve presumed that ‘this hill is the last one’ or ‘that shot was a winner.’ But as in road trips, and tennis, life isn’t that simple. What we thought was a winning shot to settle the point set us resting, only to find our ‘winner’ returned back, whizzing past us as we’d stopped playing. And that last hill on the back trip? “Just kidding” nature says, as yet another summit climb is revealed on the horizon.
Make peace with this truth: As long as you’re breathing, another set-back, another trial, is just around the corner. What sets fruitful people apart from the rest? They have a capacity, like Haggai, and Zerubbabel, to keep going when things get tough. The book of Hebrews says it this way: “You have need of endurance.”
Indeed. We need it in relationships, especially in this age of disposable ones. We need it in the perfecting of our skills vocationally and professionally. We need it in our life with other believers, and in our life with God and the calling He gives us. Things don’t happen without intentionality and effort. But even then, those elements are only the start. What do we do when opposition arises? What do we do when it arises again and again?
Oh Lord, You know my weariness in the realm of _____. I’m tired of setbacks and difficulties. Give me your patience and wisdom, and most of all, give me the capacity for perseverance. May your strength be my sustenance in a real way in this realm. And grant us, as a community, the strength to press through every setback that would discourage from being about your purposes. Give us the humility to recognize the role we play in our own trials, and the courage to stay strong when tempted to quit. In the Name of the One who went the distance on our behalf… Amen
Day 5 - February 25th, 2007
Ezra 4:17 – 5:5
Have you ever seen a foundation that’s been completed without a structure being built on top of it? My wife and I saw such a thing in Friday Harbor. It was on property overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca, providing a spectacular view of lights, whales, and mountains. There, on a completed foundation, sat weathered wood, corroding pipes, and brittle electrical wire. What happened, that the work that was begun wasn’t finished? Of course, Jesus warns of such a problem in his teachings.
But he’s not talking about church building programs. He’s speaking of the work that is unfolding as we work with God in the building of a temple, a dwelling place for God, in each of our hearts, and in our community. To the extent that we are diligent to partner with God in the completion of such a work, our lives will not only be a dwelling place for God, but blessings will flow out from that temple into our families, our church, and our cities.
The story in Ezra is a physical representation of what happens all too often in our hearts. We begin the work, the walk with God, doing so with zeal and gusto. But along the way, things get difficult. There are setbacks; opposition even. And so we stop.
That’s why we need each other. At just the right time (see 5:1) Haggai the prophet comes along and stirs up the people. “The foundation’s been sitting here for 17 years!” he says. “Don’t you think it’s high time you did something with it?” People had checked out, surrendered to status quo, and as a result were missing their calling. But thank God, there was someone there to stir things up.
The Bible says that we need one another as a means of ‘provoking one another to good works’. That’s why I’m so grateful to be in community. At those moments when I’m discouraged, it seems that there’s often a needed word of encouragement that comes my way. When I’m being lazy and disengaged, there’s a word of truth for me that comes, often from unlikely sources, at just the right time. The Bible encourages us to spur each other on because God knows that when the going gets tough, most of us will take ourselves out of the game, allowing our lives to mutate into something far less than that which God has in mind. In spite of the trials, and the anti-momentum that draws us all towards inertia, it’s vital to keep building the temple which is our heart – and enourage others to do the same.
As you’re praying today, think of areas in your own life where the work of construction has stopped. Are you not letting God build His temple in your finances? Your sexuality? Your relationships? Offer a prayer of consecration, and let the rebuilding begin once again. Now pray for someone you know who is need of starting the work of construction once again.
Day 4 – February 24th, 2007
You can’t do anything worthwhile without being mocked, criticized, or ridiculed. Let’s be quick, however, to acknowledge that ridicule, scorn, or difficulty isn’t intended to be viewed as some sort of perverse insurance that, indeed we’re in the will of God. The reality is that we bring a great deal of difficulty upon ourselves in life through poor choices, so it’s vital to reject the kind of ‘group think’ that views all troubles as signs that, indeed God is with us.
God is ‘with us’ in our endeavors, not because we’re having trouble, but because we’re seeking to follow the Lord with a humble heart, having offered ourselves to Him for His purposes to be accomplished through our lives, both individually, as families, and as a church.
Since troubles will come if we’re in the will God AND if we’re outside of it, perhaps the better thing to worry about is whether we’re in the will of God, so that when troubles come, we can point back to markers of assurance that, indeed, God has led us this far. In our case, with respect to new facilities, it would be a stretch to call the provision of talented leaders, just the right amount of neighbor signatures at the last hour, the partnership with Bagley, and the acquisition of an alley from the city, against long odds, as ALL coincidence. Sure, you could call it that. But if someone draws a royal flush four hands in row, you don’t call that coincidence – why then attribute such a string of open doors and provision to the random hand of the universe?
If you’re convinced that new facilities are in God’s plan for Bethany (as I am) then you won’t be surprised at difficulties, delays, and set-backs. Such was the case for Israel here. You’ve wrestled it through and are committed to moving forward. When the machines were chomping houses back in December, I was terrified – not because I think we’re outside God’s will – but because we’re IN it. And I know full well that being in the will of God means trials, which will build into us all those nice things spoken of in James 1, things we need in order to be people of blessing.
Lord of blessing and trials –
As we move into the future that you have for us, both individually and collectively, we ask that you would grant us the grace to receive both blessing and trial. Grant that we would be rooted in the assurance that we’re walking in your will, as well as the humility and wisdom to see when we’re not. And we ask that you would give us all the spirit of endurance and perseverance, without which very little of value will ever happen in our lives. Enable us, by your grace to just keep ‘showing up’ in hospitality, generosity, service, truth telling, praying, loving, forgiving. On this journey, we ask for the grace to take the next step, and the grace to keep asking for such grace day after day. Thank you for what awaits us as we follow you. – Amen
Bring a particular trial before the Lord today, either yours or another’s. Pray that Satan’s purposes in this trial would be resisted and that God’s would be fulfilled.
Day 3, February 23rd 2007
Ezra 3:1-13
This text could be a sermon. I encourage you to read through it once or twice, aloud, and slowly. Try to smell the burnt offerings on the altar. Try to feel the fear, the elation, the mourning, that are all intermingled in these words. And notice:
- The people are afraid. What of the land’s occupants? They might not look kindly on the return of the Jews, and the rebuilding of the temple. In their fear, they pray. And in our fear, we pray too. We can try to settle in to a comfortable Christianity that asks nothing of us, and in so doing, be released from all the fears that come from seeking to do something meaningful. But what do we have then? To quote elsewhere in the Bible, we’re the ones who show Jesus our one little coin, in tact, because we did nothing with the time, and wealth, and talents, and freedoms we were given. When we do anything worthwhile, there will be risk involved (like the risk of 7 million dollars, for example). But risk leads to prayer and dependency, which is the posture of all who God has used down through the ages. Are you in challenged in your faith, challenged in your undertakings? Give thanks, for that is where we all need to be.
- The offerings aren’t perfunctory when there’s a sense of vital dependency on God for a real project. 3:3 says, ‘they offered burnt offerings to the Lord morning and evening.’ Worship is alive, giving is genuine, sacrifice is most wholesome, and it is when we have a vision and passion to belong to the great story of redemption that God is writing, that we realize this truth: ONLY God can sustain the work that is worthy of His name. This has easy application. When we ponder the possibilities of people ‘coming home’ to Christ, being healed of addictions and fears, being set free to live meaningful lives, and being liberated to participate in God’s great work, how can we not get excited and worship? Knowing the forces intent on subverting His work, how can we not pray?
- When the new foundation was laid, there was both praise and mourning. There was praise because God has promised a hope and future to His people. There was mourning because the ushering in of the new was a reminder of glory of the old. We too, will both praise and mourn as we move into God’s future, for the future will be different than the past and the past is, for so many of us, filled with warmth and beauty. Both are important. If I’m only looking to the future, I become filled with an arrogance that dishonors what God has done previously. If I’m bitter towards the future because I’m holding too tightly to the past, I’ll miss the glories of His presence in chapters of God’s story that He’ll be writing tomorrow.
Oh God of all yesterdays and tomorrows, as we move into Your future, we’re mindful of the forces at work that would hinder us; complacency, greed, divisions, fear, an arrogance regarding tomorrow, or a bitterness over the loss of yesterday. Grant that we might we might bring these things before you with honesty, and allow you to most and shape us. Knowing the challenges that are yet ahead, we offer ourselves to you and ask your protection over us. As you’ve shepherded us in the past, so may you continue to shepherd us into the future. As we’ve offered ourselves wholly to you in the past, so may continue to be wholly yours tomorrow. Give us the grace to both rejoice and mourn, to hold the past and future in our hands even as we hold Your hand. And thank you for the adventure that awaits us as we follow you together. In Your name, Amen.
Day 2, February 22nd. 2007
Day 2 – Ezra 1:5-11
“Everyone whose spirit God had stirred” participated in the work of rebuilding the temple. Ironically, this included Cyrus, the Persian King, who gave all the temple furnishings that had been stolen from Israel by the Babylonian king, back to Israel! Clearly, God had stirred his heart. Even those who didn’t return to Jerusalem for the rebuilding effort supported the work with gold and silver. I love this sense of mutuality – this sense of support that unfolds as those who stay and those who go share together in the work.
Oh God who stirs our hearts, grant that I might have the ears to hear, and the hear to respond when your Spirit is calling me to action. May I hear your voice calling me, when you speak to me of opportunities, be they large or small. And when I’m not called to front line activity, grant that I might find ways to support and encourage those who are, through gifts of prayer, affirmation, finances, and however else you might lead. You’re doing so much in our church and our city. Teach us all how to hear voice and support one another in the works to which we’re called. In Your Name, Amen.
(Think of a work at Bethany to which you’re not directly called. Now pray for that work, and perhaps send a note of encouragement to the leaders of that ministry. If you don’t know who the leaders are, send it to staff@churchbcc.org and we’ll get it to them)
Day 1, February 21st 2007
Ezra 1:1-4
Isaiah 44:28 says of Cyrus, the Persian King, “'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid.'" This word was fulfilled centuries later, when this Persian King gave the Jews the power to return to their homeland and rebuild. It’s pretty powerful to contemplate that we live in a world that is mysteriously woven together by man’s free will and God’s sovereign workings. We celebrate God’s faithfulness in bringing that convergence of choice and sovereignty to bear on the Bethany Community so that, at this time, in this place, we have undertaken this project. It can’t be done without the hard work and sacrifice of men and women. Nor can it be done without the favor of government officials who, we believe, are in the hands of God.
May God grant us the grace to be responsive to His workings as opportunities for serving each other, our city, and world become sovereignly available because of the work God is doing behind the scenes.
Lord, we give you our lives and our life together. And in so giving, we give you all that we are, and all that we have, realizing that we are created for Your purposes. As you reveal such purposes to us, whether individually or collectively, may we be sensitive to respond, knowing that in so doing we are stepping into the place of life, blessing, and adventure that awaits us.
See you on February 21
Check back here for the first of the Lenten Prayer Diary entries on Wednesday Feb. 21st. That night, you're invited to a brief, yet special prayer meeting at Bethany Community Church, at 6:30PM. It'll be over by 7.
Then, check back daily for a new entry, a new reading, a new adventure in prayer. As our Bethany Community goes through monumental changes this winter, we're praying that Christ would shepherd us every step of the way. The point isn't change - the point is growth - there's only one point: seeking to be faithful to God's purposes. We don't do it perfectly, but hopefully we're listening for His voice and responding to His calls!
See you on the 21st.
