Yesterday we saw how Tattenai had lodged an objection with King Darius over the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. He clearly didn’t believe that any edict would ever have been issued to permit such a project so he wrote a complaint. We saw how the work continued anyway. Today we see the response from King Darius which not only endorses the rebuilding work but adds some penalties that were to be exacted against anyone who was found to cause obstruction to the progress of the project. A beam was to be pulled from that person’s house and they were to be impaled upon it.

To add insult to injury the costs of the rebuild were to be covered by the revenue from treasury of the Trans-Euphrates region of which Tattenai was governor. Those costs were to include the cost of labour, food and sacrifices were all to come from the pots of money that Tattenai managed.

I don’t know what your personal experience of life following God is like but I know from my own life that when I’ve been obedient to the call He’s placed upon me I’ve been blessed with everything I’ve needed. More often than not I’ve felt called to step out in faith into a particular initiative wondering how on earth I was going to make it work only to find that everything has been provided for me. I’ve changed jobs and taken a significant cut in salary and found that my needs have been met in other ways. I’ve listened as carefully as I could to what God was saying and found myself moving into things I didn’t know were possible because He had prepared the way.

Living a life of faith is difficult. It feels precarious and even a little reckless at times. But it is also exhilarating and exciting at the same time. If you are a risk averse person like me you’ll know exactly what I mean but trust me in this – when you step into the call that places upon your life the storehouses of heave will be opened to you and the blessings just keep flowing and flowing. So why not take some time today to ask God what it is that He’s calling you into. When not ask where He’d like you to be or what He wants you to do and take a step in faith.

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Heavenly Father we pray that today You will bless each of us with a fresh vision of the call You’ve placed upon us. Help us to step out in faith and help us to see the blessings that You have for as we do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.