Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horses to protect us from enemies on the way because we said to the king, “the hand of our God is favorable to all who seek him, but his strength and anger are against all who forsake them.”

Ezra 8:22

Ezra had permission from the king of Babylon (Darius) to head back to Judah and make sure the Temple was going well, deliver the Temple riches, and to make sure the people were following all the Law of Adonai that they were supposed to be following. He was responsible for the people and the riches (which were a lot). Since he had been saying that the hand of Adonai was upon them and that His anger and strength were against the untrusting and disobedient, Ezra had a brief situation. Now that he SAW the amount of riches and SAW the people he was responsible for, he almost had second thoughts. But he was reminded of the (proper) stand he took regarding what Adonai did for His faithful children and was ashamed to be thinking of asking for a protective guard for the trip. One of the great roles of Ruach HaKodesh is to remind us of the words WE have declared and the positions that WE have said we agree with.

It’s easy to trust people when there are no real stakes. When there is nothing at risk. You can easily trust your boyfriend with the group of girls he helps tutor when you’re at school. Your flesh might find it harder if they went on a weekend ski trip with little supervision. You might trust that your sibling would never take money from you. You might think twice before putting them in charge of the ticket sale money at a bazaar. As human beings, relying only on human thinking, we tend to trust people ‘as far as we can throw them’. Giving trust is dependent on how well we know the character of who we’re dealing with. There are people who can be trusted in ANY circumstance. There are others that can only be trusted in PARTICULAR circumstances. In contrast, Adonai can be trusted in EVERY circumstance to perform EXACTLY according to His Word and character. He is ALWAYS trustworthy and CONSISTENT (Hebrews 13:8).

We are explicitly told that the only successful way to ‘defeat’ the devil is to stand on the Word (James 4:7). To stand in agreement with the Word and to move and renew our minds until we are aligned with it (Romans 12:2). Not to make it bend to our wills and whims, but to bend our knees and humbly submit to Adonai in EVERY situation (Matthew 11:28-30). When we do that, the devil MUST flee. Because in that situation he isn’t facing US, but Adonai! We’re simply agreeing and presenting our agreement with what Adonai as said. There is NO demonic defense against that. When faced with Adonai’s Word, the devil crumbles. It’s only when we try to use it with wrong motivations or we don’t understand what the Word is about that the devil remains. When faced with Adonai, he flees. It’s why he couldn’t keep his place in heaven no matter how hard he tried (Revelation 12:8). He MUST flee from the Truth of the Word.

The only way the devil can win against the Word is to get us to let it go (or never pick it up in the first place). To get us to NOT keep standing. That was the situation Ezra was in. He had declared the truth about Adonai and made his position clear as to what he trusted in. And then the situation seemed to change. Travelling for that many months (three) with a LOT of treasure and their families (including little children) would be dangerous. Enemies, bandits, and even the weather. Which way to take or not take. Supplies. The list could go on. But when he considered asking King Darius for guards to guide and protect them, he was ashamed of the thought. AND RIGHTLY SO. We SHOULD be ashamed of thinking of not trusting Adonai when we have STATED that we will trust. We should hang onto the Word we’ve chosen to stand on, the aspect of the character of Adonai that we’re standing on, or the Word-based statement we are believing in. Once we choose to trust in Adonai and believe Him, we should never, EVER let go of that. And Ruach HaKodesh encourages us not to.

“On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the river of Ahava to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushing on the way” (Ezra 8:31). Ezra declared a fast and they all prayed about their situation. Then they listened to what they heard and acted on it. When they did that, they encountered NO problems on the journey. Ezra decided to double-down on his trust and seek Adonai until he got an answer. Then Ezra chose to obey what he heard and follow it through exactly as spoken by Adonai. When he did that, he stayed dead-centre in the will of Adonai and right in the midst of the Blessing Zone. And boy, did they get blessed! No enemies got the better of them. No ambushes were sprung. No loss of people, no lack of supplies, and every ounce of treasure got to where it was headed. That is an AMAZING thing to be done for them, but Adonai did it. Because they sought Him and then LISTENED.

Adonai is a God of MORE THAN ENOUGH and Ruach HaKodesh NEVER wants us to forget it. More than the storms. More than the circumstances. More than the situations. More than the attacks. More than the persecution. More than anything. Adonai is ENOUGH. MORE THAN ENOUGH. If we will seek Him, we will hear from Him. If we check the Word, we’ll find an answer. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). Ruach HaKodesh wasn’t given to us to be the hider. The never talks-er. He is our GUIDE. Our COUNSELLOR. Our CORRECTOR. He is GOING to be speaking. We need to listen. And we need to obey. Then we’ll be able to point to everything in our lives and our circumstances and say ‘Look what Adonai has done for me!’ We’ll be that light that shines out. Not because of us, but because of His Blessing on us. Because of His Son in us. Because of the power of the Father we carry within us. Listen. Obey. That simple. Be ashamed (embarrassed, NOT full of SHAME) if you ever catch yourself thinking of choosing to do differently. Don’t be ashamed, be TRUSTING. Stick with it. Stand. When all else fails, STAND. You KNOW He’s good for His Word (Jeremiah 1:12). Stick with it. Stand.

Daily Affirmation of the Goodness of Elohim: Jeremiah 1:12

“Then Yahweh said to me, “You did well to see, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”” Adonai doesn’t say stuff to say stuff. He isn’t interested in impressing us. He has nothing to prove. He does EXACTLY what He says He will do. And He says EXACTLY as much as He needs to. He is a faithful speaker. If He says it, we KNOW He will do it. We KNOW it. He has NEVER been wrong. We’ve missed it, but HE never has. When HE says it, it happens. He’s not lossey-goosey with His words. He is clear. He is concise. He speaks truth. Every time. He is SO TRUSTWORTHY. Psalm after psalm declares it. There is example after example throughout the Word. Adonai says it and sometimes a LOT of time passes, but then it happens. Exactly the way He said it would. Faithful. Trustworthy. It’s SUCH a wonderful gift. To be able to trust Him and NOT EVER be disappointed. What a GOOD God!

Your Daily Confession of Elohim’s Goodness:

I taste and see that Yahweh is good; I am blessed because I take refuge in Him.

Psalm 34:8