The Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide "Fear and Trust" Monday, February 17th, 2014

The Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide "Fear and Trust" Monday, February 17th, 2014
Read Ezra 3:1 When the seventh month had come, and the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. 2 Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak stood up with his brothers the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and his brothers, and built the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. 3 In spite of their fear because of the peoples of the surrounding lands, they set the altar on its base; and they offered burnt offerings on it to Yahweh, even burnt offerings morning and evening. 4 They kept the feast of tents, as it is written, and offered the daily burnt offerings by number, according to the ordinance, as the duty of every day required; 5 and afterward the continual burnt offering, the offerings of the new moons, of all the set feasts of Yahweh that were consecrated, and of everyone who willingly offered a freewill offering to Yahweh. 6 From the first day of the seventh month, they began to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh; but the foundation of Yahweh’s temple was not yet laid. 7 They also gave money to the masons, and to the carpenters. They also gave food, drink, and oil to the people of Sidon and Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea, to Joppa, according to the grant that they had from Cyrus King of Persia.
8 Now in the second year of their coming to God’s house at Jerusalem, in the second month, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brothers the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began the work and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to have the oversight of the work of Yahweh’s house. 9 Then Jeshua stood with his sons and his brothers, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to have the oversight of the workmen in God’s house: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brothers the Levites. 10 When the builders laid the foundation of Yahweh’s temple, they set the priests in their clothing with trumpets, with the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise Yahweh, according to the directions of David king of Israel. 11 They sang to one another in praising and giving thanks to Yahweh, “For he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever toward Israel.” All the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised Yahweh, because the foundation of Yahweh’s house had been laid.
Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar.~~Ezra 3:3 (NIV)
“Trust me. Give it one more shot.” My teacher was encouraging me to go to the second practice of our school’s jazz band. During the first practice, he had handed out music I thought was too hard. I was afraid to fail, to embarrass myself in front of the group. After a lot of coaxing, I agreed to try one more time. The second practice was much better, and I have continued to play the trumpet ever since. Playing in that band gave me confidence to do things I might never have considered. I’m glad I went — even though I was afraid. My fear seems insignificant when compared to the fear the Israelite exiles felt as they returned to Jerusalem in the sixth-century BC. Their ancestors had been taken as prisoners of war decades before, but this was no joyful homecoming. The residents of the city were openly hostile to them, and the situation had become very tense. In order to worship they would need to build an altar, risking bodily harm and perhaps death. Still, they chose to worship God. All of us experience fear of some kind. Yet, the Israelites can inspire us to trust God. They were afraid, but they overcame their fear. If they could trust God in the midst of great danger, so can we.~~The Author~Troy Dennis (New Brunswick, Canada)
Thought for the Day: Go to devotional.upperroom.org/blog to see a photo of Troy with his trumpet.
Prayer: Dear God, when we are afraid and don’t know what to do, help us to be like the Israelites and trust you — despite our fears. Amen.
Prayer focus: Refugees
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