18 August 2009 Devotion for Today “The Lord Made Them Joyful” Ezra 6:9-22

18 August 2009 Devotion for Today “The Lord Made Them Joyful” Ezra 6:9-22

9 And the descendants of the captivity kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month. 20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves; all of them were ritually clean. And they slaughtered the Passover lambs for all the descendants of the captivity, for their brethren the priests, and for themselves. 21 Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the LORD God of Israel. 22 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the LORD made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. (Ezra 6:9-22)

The story is told of a very bumpy and turbulent airline flight. If the flight was bad, the landing was even worse as the plane did everything but barrel rolls as it approached the runway. But the experienced pilot managed to land the plane safely. He stood at the door of the cabin as the passengers exited from the aircraft as he normally did, and greeted the passengers as they left. One rather caustic elderly woman came down the aisle and as she approached the pilot, she asked, “Captain, I want to know one thing- did we land, or were we SHOT down?”
It could well be that you feel as though you were shot down yesterday, or that your day was very bumpy and turbulent. The Jews who resettled the city of Jerusalem certainly did not have an easy time of it. Even though they had been given assurances from the king of Persia that he wanted them to return and rebuild the Temple, the Jews had enemies who tried their best to give them a rough time of it. However, the Jews decided that they would refuse to be discouraged by the paperwork headaches and obstacles thrown in their way as they focused on what God had for them to do. They accomplished what God had instructed and rebuilt the Temple, dedicated it, and held a celebration. One phrase in verse 22 lifts my heart as I read it “for the Lord had made them joyful.” This is true for all of us. Joy is a supernatural thing that comes from God that is independent of our circumstances. To be sure, the Jews were happy for the success and sense of accomplishment, but God gave them the joy to experience it. We can have joy even when our circumstances are turbulent and shaky when we chose to see God and what He is doing and not the things around us.

It will be tempting to want to feel miserable, sad, lonely or allow ourselves to be caught up in a swell of negative emotions as we experience difficulty today. But remember what Ezra said to the people in Nehemiah 8:10 "Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the joy that You give me- especially in moments when I am tempted to feel anything but joy. Help me to not slide into negative emotions when things do not go well today. Instead, let me put a smile on my face that exemplifies Your Spirit in me. Let my tormenters know that while they may be able to take everything away from me, they cannot take away my joy. Instead allow me to witness to them by the joy of Jesus Christ in my life, and let the joy of the Lord be my strength today. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Have a blessed day!