And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the LORD, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. (Ezra 3:10)
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they (Zerubbabel and Joshua, the heads of the community) set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord after the ordinance of David. They praised God while laboring. If only we would do the same, imagine the spectacular work we could do!
I've spent the past few days complaining about not having a job, feeling frustrated at constantly having to fill out information that's contained in my resume (sometimes on three different job sites for one job) and not hearing back from any of them. A friend of mine gave me some suggestions and I spent most of yesterday rewriting my resume. I keep asking myself, another friend and God - what am I doing wrong? Believe it or not, I was even turned down for an "online" writing job with the comment that I have no writing experience! I suppose they are right, since all my inspiration for these devotions comes from God.
The piece I keep forgetting is that the right job will come to me, at the right time - God's time. He knows my needs and He won't forget me. That's a good thing to know, for I am slowly coming to the bottom of the barrel that holds the money. The hardest time to wait on the Lord is when you know that His intervention is needed, and needed very soon. That is when our faith in Him must truly shine through and we must stand firm on His promises.
The trials and struggles we face sometime cause us to stop and ask why. Asking why is okay, so long as we don't stop and dwell on the problem, but push forward in search of a solution. Sometimes the solution is to sit quietly and be patient, sometimes it is to try something different. In either case, doing what the Lord asks of us first, is the key. If we aren't praying, then we aren't talking to Him. If we aren't reading His word, He can't communicate with us. If we aren't listening for His voice - we may miss it. If we aren't open to receive His gifts, if we aren't watching - they may just slip through our fingers.
Being aware of God's mercy and grace in our every day lives is just as important as knowing His promises. Each day presents another opportunity for us to go to Him, on our knees, and ask for strength and guidance. Yet we continue to make excuses as to why we cannot and expect Him to just continue dropping gifts on us. When we allow ourselves to get into this position, we've allowed the enemy to access our fear and doubt, thus diminishing our level of faith in God.
Send the enemy on his way! Tell him to go, for he'll find no worshipers here - here he will find a child of God - loved and protected, faithful and humbled at the sound of His great name! He will find a child of God who is willing to meet whatever trial comes with a head held high and eyes gazing on the heavens! He will find no solace here, no compassion, no friend. He will find only one who lives for Jesus. He will find me, at the foot of the cross where my salvation came - praying to my Father in Heaven - giving glory and praising His name!
