Ezra Day 5: God’s Hand on our Behalf

You don’t know what you don’t know.

Take the toddler, who is learning to walk on their own and stubbornly insists they can walk without your hand in the parking lot or down the stairs. Or the new teenage driver who can’t understand why a car full of friends and a blaring radio isn’t a good idea. Or the heartbreaking story of a college student who takes a pill from a friend, unaware it is fentanyl, and loses their life. 

You don’t know what you don’t know. 

It is true of all of us — there is always something we don’t know. Life is full of fresh perspectives to understand, further information to learn, and new ways to grow and change. This lack of complete knowledge and understanding is why it is so vital we invite God into our story. 

Only God knows what we don’t know. 

In Chapter 7 of the book of Ezra, we find Ezra headed to Jerusalem with a letter from the King of Babylon and a treasury of gold and silver. King Artaxerxes provided Ezra with abundant gold and silver to purchase the required animals, grain, and drinks for the Temple offerings. Beyond that, Ezra was instructed to do whatever he desired with any excess funds. Even more impressive, the King instructed Ezra to take more money from the King’s treasury if necessary. All of this, and more, was written in a letter from King Artaxerxes, which Ezra carried with him to read to the people of Jerusalem. 

How was it that Ezra, an exile, convinced the King of Babylon to provide for God’s Temple so generously? Ezra 7:5 answers that question — “the hand of the Lord his God was on him.” 

Ezra set his heart to studying God’s word and acting on his knowledge in obedience. He desired to teach God’s law and statutes to fellow Israelites living in Jerusalem. (Ezra 7:10)

Ezra set his heart on God, and God placed His hands on Ezra. Together, they display a beautiful picture of a relationship with our Heavenly Father.

You and I have this same opportunity for a relationship with God. As His children, His hands are in the details of our lives, too. Sometimes, like Ezra, we see His hands move on our behalf as He orchestrates events and people to our advantage. In these situations, we can easily praise God and trust His ways. 

However, what about the circumstances in our lives that break our hearts? So many of us have painful parts of our story that never seem to change. There are circumstances and complex situations where God seems silent. Where is God’s hand in our life then?

In those difficult seasons, we must remind our hearts that we don’t know what we don’t know. 

But God — He knows everything. Yes, I know that’s hard to swallow when the hurt is deep, and your heart is weary. There are pieces of my story that some days feel like they might break me. 

When it feels like I just can’t take any more — I breathe deep, close my eyes and ask the Lord to remind my weary heart that there are parts of the story I just don’t know yet.  

Then, I remember. I remember all the circumstances in my life when I felt like I might break until God moved His hand in my story. I remember all the ways the hard parts of my journey have shaped me into the person I am today. 

When we set our hearts on God, He forever places His hands on us. They are working on our behalf in the moments we see them and in the moments we don’t.

I love the prayer Ezra offers to God at the end of Chapter 7, 

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the Lord that is in Jerusalem, and who extended to me his steadfast love before the king and his counselors, and before all the king's mighty officers. I took courage, for the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and I gathered leading men from Israel to go up with me.” Ezra 7:27-28

Today, let’s offer God the same prayer of thanks for the good things He has done in our lives. Consider a time, new or old, when you saw God’s hand work on your behalf, and thank Him. 

Like Ezra, you can say:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who ________________________________________________.

For the hand of the Lord my God was on me, and ________________________________________________. Amen.