Ezra 6:6-8
“Now as for you, Tattenai, governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, Shethar-bozenai, and your colleagues, the officials of the provinces beyond the River, stay away from there. Leave that work on the house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews rebuild that house of God on its site. Furthermore, I issue a decree concerning what you are to do for these elders of Judah in the rebuilding of that house of God: the full cost is to be paid to those people from the royal treasury out of the taxes of the provinces beyond the Euphrates River, and that without interruption.”
Hooray! The bullies of God’s people got called out. Their trick worked for a while. It sounded like quite a while, as in several years. Then Zerrubabel comes on the scene and stands on Cyrus’ earlier decree. Which happened to outlive the stoppage. God gave him the wisdom and strength to not allow their trick to interfere. God gave that to him and allowed it to work.
This brings me to a tough point. Their trick did work for a while. We will run into frustrating obstructions. I’m coming into a break through time like in this passage. A year and a half ago I hit the wall. I kept on claiming God’s promises to knock it down. I’m finally sensing God freeing things up. It feels awesome. However, it took a while for it to be addressed.
God allowed that time of injustice. That was tough. I called out to Him for months. It only got worse. The wicked were rewarded. I would share my frustrations with my friends. They all know it.
I do thank Him for teaching me to be content even in this. It was challenging as I thought He would deliver. In time it was clear the trick worked and I was portrayed as a troublemaker. I had to let go. Trying to give my perspective wasn’t working. That was difficult, as I was treated unfairly. It didn’t matter. Those in power chose the other side.
I learned to rest in God. He knew my case. I can’t claim He was on my side, but He loved me and comforted me.
Part of my difficulty is that I believe God honors His children. Psalm 23 says, “He preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies”. That’s the verse I would hang on to. My mistake was attempting to force His hand. He chooses when to give honor, not us.
Fortunately He blessed many other relationships and situations in my life. It wasn’t all bad. He was able to cheer me up. While that situation was difficult, my classroom was a blessing. That’s where most of my work time was spent. I learned to ignore the strife and focus on the blessing. That’s what helped my contentment.
Another issue I had to deal with was forgiveness. What makes that difficult is that the offending parties weren’t apologizing. Quite the contrary, the were celebrating their advantage. We can forgive and let go even when it’s one sided. Not easy, but with God all things are possible.
This was a challenging, but great lesson. Zerrubabel broke though and continued the work on the temple. So we need to trust God with our outcomes. He will bless and give contentment. Success will come in His time and in His way.