Ezra was a man of exemplary faith. We’re told he’d devoted his life to studying the Law of Moses the result of which was that he heard God and knew his calling. He had spent the best part of 5 months travelling from Babylon to Jerusalem carrying with him the gifts given by the King to take with him. When you put it like that it sounds like a long trip but it’s difficult to imagine the scale of what was involved. He also carried with him a letter from the King setting out the King’s support for this amazing adventure. So Ezra had completed his journey with some of the key family heads in tow.

I’m not sure how you feel about this but when I think of a road trip I might envisage a couple of hundred miles of pleasant driving (traffic and roadworks permitting) completed in about 3 hours or so. Ezra’s journey took nearly 5 months and as we’ll see later it took him through some perilous places where he might have been robbed or killed for the treasure he and his entourage were carrying. But this was Ezra’s way, the way of faith in the God who had called him and in the mission he had been called to. He ‘knew’ this would be good. We know that all was well because the bible tells us in its inimitable way that, “The King had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was upon him” (v.6b)

That simple statement says so much and yet begs so many questions doesn’t it? How did he know God’s hand was upon him? How did he know that everything was going to work out for good? We can’t be certain about what Ezra was hearing God say but we can see the fruit of the things that God was doing. We can read the letter given to Ezra and we can see the list of treasures that he was presented with. We can also see that out of the place of slavery the people had lived in for decades they were being restored to freedom complete with all the blessings that they would need to get the nation of Israel re-established. When we read that, “The hand of the Lord his God was upon him” we can see all that God was doing.

So here’s something to ponder for today. What is your sense of what God is doing in your life right now? Where are you seeing His favour? Do you recognise how God’s hand is moving over your life? How are you responding?

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Heavenly Father show me how You’re working in my life right now. I ask that You would reveal your purposes for me and grant me the strength and courage to walk with You in all things. Amen.