A wake up call!

Like we have done before, we will be studying a whole chapter today. The fifth chapter of Ezra is our focus, and I'd like to request that you read through it and then come back here to share some thoughts.
I'm going to re-read it right now . . .
Will you do that, too?

Wow!
Pretty intriguing, right?
We've had all these setbacks and obstacles and now there's a crinkle in the plot line . . . wonder what will happen next? Well, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's look at these verses, OK?

Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them. (Ezra 5:1-2)

We've noted the verses before that showed exactly what Haggai said to the people. It was a wake up call, no?
He chastised them pretty roundly!
The Spirit of God was upon him and he spoke exactly what the Lord told him to say. In addition to the rebuke, though, there is something really important to notice: an additional ingredient of the recipe . . . . encouragement!
At the end of the second verse there, it says that the prophets were with them, supporting them.
Awesome!
Have you ever been discouraged?
I guess that's like asking, "Are you alive? Breathing?"
(Grin)
Being at the bottom of the roller coaster hill happens to all of us. Sometimes it's because of a physical cause. We may be worn down and tired. Needing a break. Or perhaps we are ill, or prone to depression.
We can end up at the bottom of the coaster because of expectations, too. We can be idealistic and on fire for God; no matter how hard we work and pray, the devil may thwart our efforts.
We can be disappointed by our expectations of other human beings, too. Maybe we were counting on someone and they let us down. Perhaps we had high hopes for a friendship with someone, and they turned against us.
We can be discouraged like the remnant was, by criticism and slander.
We can even be discouraged by what we perceive as disappointment with God. As far as we could tell, we were working and praying for something that we felt would bring God glory - but it fell apart. We begin to wonder if we should try anything for the Lord again.
We human beings are a curious lot sometimes. We try to deal with discouragement in many wrong ways. Many immerse themselves in things they think will be fulfilling: sports, travel, social media, entertainment, their careers, building wealth, building popularity. You name it. Humans will try it. It's a tragedy, though, and we should not make light of the fact that some turn to drugs, alcohol, or sexual sin. Some become so filled with despair that they try to take their own lives.

In the first chapter of Haggai, we read that the people's focus had shifted away from God. It was as if they said to the prophet, "Hey, we tried that. It didn't work so well!"
God knew they needed a wake up call, and he had two people picked out for the job! He raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, and caused them to speak to the people in His name.
The results were nothing short of incredible!
Under the renewed leadership of our old friends Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the people started building again. And the work was finished in just a tad over four years.

I think we will find some clues in this chapter that will tell us how to overcome discouragement in our work for the Lord!
This promises to be a very uplifting week of study -- hope you'll be here!