Battles Lost and Victories Won
Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power. Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. - Ezra 4:23-24
In the book of Ezra, the rebuilding of the temple faced opposition from both within and without. Countless attacks and attempts to infiltrate the workforce eventually led the enemy to approach the king, arguing that the temple's reconstruction would be detrimental to business. Their persuasive argument resulted in a government decree to cease, bringing the work to a standstill for over 15 years.
I can relate to how the Israelites felt during that time. Since we received news about the government questioning the validity of our sponsorship and the pending outcome of our appeal, our ministry here in Wales has had to pause temporarily. While we continue to reach out to people and hold our weekly services, we have refrained from planning any community outreaches due to the uncertainty surrounding our future status here.
We had exciting plans for a summer barbecue for the men, a ladies' luncheon in the autumn, and a monthly movie night at the local community hall. Additionally, we aimed to move forward with our requests to visit schools and nursing homes now that we have obtained our safeguarding certification for working with youth and vulnerable adults. However, these plans are currently on hold as we do not want to leave our ministry partners in a difficult situation should we be forced to leave the country.
Over the past few months, we have navigated through the legal requirements to establish our ministry partners as sponsors. This process has been filled with frustration and delays and has felt like doing the cha-cha with a kangaroo—one step forward, two steps back, and a lot of hopping about. It has been exhausting and discouraging, but the good news is that we are nearing completion of the first step.
And here's the best part: while the enemy may cause delays, he cannot destroy the work of God. Yes, the rebuilding of the temple was halted, but it eventually resumed, leading to the completion of the temple and the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls. The enemy may have won some battles, but ultimately, God won the war. I firmly believe the same will happen in our sponsorship situation. Although the enemy may try to hinder our work, God will prevail. His name will be honoured and glorified, and the work will continue!
If you currently find yourself stuck and your plans on hold indefinitely, take heart. This is not the end if you walk in God’s will and follow His plan for your life. God has extraordinary things in store for you. Don’t lose hope. The enemy cannot tear down what God intends to build up. Keep doing what you can, and patiently await God's timing. He will see you through this!
P.S. Those of you in the US may have noticed some odd spellings in today’s devotion. I have changed the settings on my spellchecker to UK English to help my brain adjust to the way things are spelt over here. After all, if we’re going to be here a while (which I believe we are), I might as well learn the British way of doing things. When in Rome. . .right?
