Joy in My Heart Ezra 6:22

And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy for the Lord had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the House of God, the God of Israel.



Israel has been in held in captivity in Babylon for several years. They have been allowed to return to Jerusalem and under the leadership of Zerubbabel, they were allowed to begin building a Temple in Jerusalem as a permanent place to worship God. All through this book, we will see a common theme, which is the power of God at work in human life. For only did the king allow the children of Israel to return to Jerusalem and build their Temple, the king ordered gifts to be given from the treasury to build and decorate the Temple.

Darius who ruled the province also ordered taxes to be collected to help build the Temple. In fact, there were three foreign leaders who ordered assistance to build the Temple. When the Temple was finished, the people rejoiced and they dedicated the Temple to God and joy filled their hearts. The Lord, the Bible tells us, made them joyful.

Joy comes from the Lord. The world can make us happy but joy comes from the Lord. The people celebrated their freedom and they came together to worship God because of all that He had done for them. They watched as God "turned the heart of Assyria" and he let the people go free and then God touched the hearts of not one but three other kings and they financed the building of the Temple!

God can accomplish what He wants to accomplish and He does not need our help in doing it! What God does want is for us to look to Him and allow him to be God in our lives. The people had lived in captivity and they began to cry out to God for forgiveness and for His deliverance and God said, "Ok; I will deliver you" and that is what He did. He gave Zerubbabel the vision to build a temple and He gave him the manpower and the finances to do what He wanted done.

God will do the same thing in our day today if we will just look to Him and then do what He tells us He wants us to do. God will deliver us from our oppressors and He will build our lives and He will also build His church! God has the recourses to do anything that He wants to do and we need to open our hearts to Him and allow Him to do what He wants to do in our lives. These people let God prove that He is able to do more than they could imagine and they celebrated all that He had done for them and God gave them joy in their hearts.

If you and I will let Him be God in our lives today, He will turn the hearts of those that oppose us and we may well be surprised and the provisions that God has in store for us as well! One thin is sure, if you and I will just walk with God, He will put His joy in our hearts and that will be worth celebrating!