Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work. They bribed agents to work against them and to frustrate their plans. This went on during the entire reign of King Cyrus of Persia and lasted until King Darius of Persia took the throne. Ezra 4:4-5
Today I want to bring you some words of encouragement the Holy Spirit gave to me from the book of Ezra. In Ezra chapter 1, God stirred up the spirit of Cyrus King of Persia, who issued a command to have the temple of God in Jerusalem rebuilt. The Jews were mobilized and the building of the temple began. When we get to chapter 4, we see the Jews facing great opposition. And here are a few lessons we can glean from this story:
- It’s not personal
The Bible does not record any opposition to the Jews in the book of Ezra until they rose to build God’s temple. It Is therefore important to note that anytime you arise in obedience to build consistent with God’s command the devil will come against you.
God may have asked you to build a godly home, a business that finances His kingdom, a ministry to advance His purposes, build the lives of men, etc. Regardless of the assignment, if what you are building in any way advances God’s kingdom, expect opposition.
The opposition has one main goal: To stop you from building. Because the enemy does not have the power to stop you, he uses tools that would make you decide to stop. He uses different tactics to discourage you, frighten you, and frustrate you.
When the devil comes with all his tactics to discourage, frighten and frustrate you, truth is that he gets personal. He can touch any aspect of your life if he thinks it would get you to stop building. He can touch your finances, your marriage, your children, etc. but you must understand it’s not personal. If you are not aware of what is going on and what exactly his agenda is, it is easy to give in to discouragement or fear and quit or get angry at God.
I remember a season when anytime I prayed at night I would have severe nightmares. It felt like I had to choose between praying at night or having a good sleep. I had no idea what was going on, but after a while, I became scared of praying because I did not want to have a horrible night. knowing I could not go on like this, I went to God and all He said to me was: “move forward”. Then I understood that the enemy intended to stop me from moving forward. It made me realize that my prayer was advancing me in a certain direction, so I kept praying what God had laid on my heart in that season and kept declaring His word. I ignored the nightmares. When the enemy saw that it no longer affected me and had zero impact, it ceased.
Listen the attacks on your life is not personal. I know it may not feel like it but trust me, knowing it’s not personal changes your approach. The devil does not want your money, your spouse, your health, or whatever he’s attacking. All he wants is to stop you from walking in obedience to God. He wants you to stop building because he knows that if you stay aligned and build that which God has instructed you to, souls would be saved and God’s kingdom would be advanced.
The question is, do you know the trigger? What you are building that is attracting such opposition? If you don’t you might quit the process and not even know it. If you don’t know the trigger you might fight the wrong battle and pray amiss. If you’re in a season of intense pushback or attacks, please take time to find out what you’re building that is attracting such opposition. When you find it, stay the course, don’t quit. Keep building.
- The enemy has no power to stop you
If the enemies of the Jews could stop the building of the temple they would have, but without legal grounds, they could not. They could only discourage, frighten and frustrate. The decision to keep building was still with the Jews. Despite all the attacks the Jews still decided to keep building.
The enemy cannot stop you. He can come against you with all his strategies to get you to quit but the decision lies with you. You can decide like the Jews to keep going regardless of his efforts or you can also decide to stop. It is truly up to you. The power to make the decision lies with you, not the enemy.
- Never fight spiritual battles in the physical
“They bribed agents to work against them” Just like God the Father, the devil works through men to accomplish his purposes. You must understand when you’re in a spiritual battle that it has nothing to do with the people/agents the devil deploys. Fighting men is a waste of your time and effort. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. Be sensitive to how people treat you and learn to fight on your knees when you sense a behaviour change.
- God needs you
For God’s will to be done on earth, God and man must be involved. God needed the Jews to rise and build the temple because based on His design man was given dominion on the earth. God played His role by stirring up the heart of the King, the Jews had to play their role by rising to build.
God needs every believer to rise and build that which He has assigned to us for His will to be done on earth. The time is short, we must pursue His agenda like never before. We must work in partnership with Him to conquer territories and take the nations for His kingdom. Don’t quit the process, keep building. God is counting on you!
