First off, here is some coordinated reading to put the thought together:
Ezra 4:4,5
[4] Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
[5] And hired counsellers against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Ezra 5:4
[4] Then said we unto them after this manner, What are the names of the men that make this building?
[5] But the eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews, that they could not cause them to cease, till the matter came to Darius: and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.
Ezra 6:8-15
[8] Moreover I made a decree what ye shall do to the elders of these Jews for the building of this house of God: that of the king’s goods, even of the tribute beyond the river, forthwith expences be given unto these men, that they be not hindered.
[9] And that which they have need of, both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs, for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests which are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail:
[10] That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his sons.
[11] Also I have made a decree, that whosoever shall alter this word, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon; and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
[12] And the God that hath caused his name to dwell there destroy all kings and people, that shall put to their hand to alter and to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have made a decree; let it be done with speed.
[13] Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent, so they did speedily.
[14] And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
[15] And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
There are so many times when we try to take matters into our own hands, and try to make situations work according to the way we think that they should. In most cases, however, we end up making things quite worse then what they were when they began.
We don’t want to turn the other cheek, we don’t want to walk away, and we especially don’t want to keep our opinion silent. I’m here to tell you that sometimes it is the BEST thing to do. God will make sure that we are completely vindicated for the trouble that we face in our persecutions. In other words, we’ll get double for our trouble if we have faith, trust in him, and hang on long enough to not act out of our flesh!
Genesis 20:14-18
[14] And Abimelech took sheep, and oxen, and menservants, and womenservants, and gave them unto Abraham, and restored him Sarah his wife.
[15] And Abimelech said, Behold, my land is before thee: dwell where it pleaseth thee.
[16] And unto Sarah he said, Behold, I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver: behold, he is to thee a covering of the eyes, unto all that are with thee, and with all other: thus she was reproved.
[17] So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
[18] For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver to cover the offense against you before all who are with you: you are reproved (vindicated).
Vindicated means: show somebody to be blameless; to clear somebody or something of blame, guilt, suspicion, or doubt.
I couldn’t tell you the amount of times that I have wrote my goodbye speech to the churches I have attended in my life because of the things that have happened that have hurt me. I couldn’t also count the number of times that I have been completely shocked by the behavior of people that I looked up to and trusted greatly. I’ve learned as I have grown in God that many people along the way will let you down, whether they be close to you or not, and that God will be those people for you in their absence. In other words, when they hurt you, let God fill the void so you can forgive them and your walk and witness not be hindered.
We don’t have time to be arguing and complaining about doctrine, principles of ideals and order, or “how things should be in the church”. God is the leader, and that’s who we should follow. With the Holy Ghost as our guide, and Jesus as our Savior, we can never be led astray.
We will be vindicated and never have to say the first word, nor lift the first finger. In fact, the love of God will rise in you to love those who have hurt you. Trust me, it’s happened with me. In fact, I love those who persecute me even more, because I know that they are in far greater of a need than us getting along. If people are more worried about popular opinions and clicks, it’s not business for the King. God wants us to be about his business, exclusively.
So in other words, let’s grow up and go on! Thanks to everyone for the contributions!