Stop

Ezra 4:24 "Thus the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem ceased, and it was discontinued until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia." NKJV

The vision is shared. Hearts are stirred. People give. They come together as one man. And the work stopped? Hey, this is not how it is supposed to work. Shouldn't it be that they lived happily ever after? Not here...not always. The work on the house of God ceased. It was discontinued...for many years. History says that Cyrus died in 530 BC and Darius came into power in 522 BC. We aren't exactly sure when the work stopped, but if it stopped when Cyrus died then it stopped for around ten years. Ten more years of waiting. Ten more years of looking at an unfinished foundation. Ten more years of wishing. Why? Because of opposition. Because of intimidation. Because people did not have the fortitude to look their challengers in the eye and move forward. Where was God in all of this? Why did it have to stop?

I have asked this question before. When things seem to be going well, why do we hit speed bumps that slow us down? It seems like you have the momentum and all of a sudden you hit a wall and come to a screeching halt. What is with that anyway? Where is God in all of that?

The answer is He is right in the same place He always was: On the throne and in control. The thing that is hard when you have momentum is making sure that you don't rip control away from God. Of course, that would never happen. We humans are not that powerful. But many times we have a tendency to grab something, even a good thing in ministry and start to claim it is our own. We start to grab the credit. We start to think that we are all that. When that happens, look out. It is time for a time out, a slow down, maybe even a discontinuation. I don't know that this is what happened in Ezra's day, but I do know that it happens today. I have seen it and personally experienced it...and it is no fun. Marking time is no fun. Waiting is no fun...but sometimes it is necessary to get our attention. To bring our focus back on the One who instituted the vision to begin with. To rely on the One who brought it all together to begin with. To acknowledge the One who will make it all happen.

Sometime this realization takes time. God has all the time in the world. He knows what He is doing. He is in control of it all anyway. I have to remember that He is more concerned with our character building than building a building. I have to be open to the concept of waiting because that is when God shows up.