Ezra 7

Seven chapters into his book, Ezra finally arrives on-scene, and the first thing he does is conduct a massive undertaking. It’s a huge task, including making a great journey across a large desert, transporting sacred items and gold and silver for the temple, and appointing judges to rule over the land. With such a monumental list of responsibilities at hand, Ezra was definitely going to need a lot of strength.

And in verse 28, he explains where all that strength would come from: "And I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me." At first, that seemed like an odd statement to me. We get strength from food, water, shelter, and plenty of rest. We get strength from exercising our muscles. When we think of strength, our first thought probably isn’t the hand of God.

But I think Ezra was onto something. I think he sensed that the one and only thing that could truly give him the kind of strength he needed was knowing that he was pursuing a course in life that was borne out of the Father’s hand.

Just think about those hands for a moment. God’s hands. Hands that have held waters at bay, stretched back the curtains of the sky, and smoothed the rumpled hair of little children. They are the hands that caught Peter and hauled him up out of angry waves, brought sight to the eyes of blind men, and were nailed to a cross, dirty and blood-stained. Hands that have ever been outstretched in blessing.

There is nothing those hands can’t do. There is nothing those hands won’t do to help us. And nothing—absolutely nothing, Paul says—can snatch us out of them. Yes, if there is any strength to be found in this weary world, it is in those hands and those hands alone. No matter what else we have or do not have, if we have the hand of God upon us, we have all the strength we need for the task at hand.

Take this lesson from Ezra today: God is our strength. And when His hand is upon you, blessing the fruits of your labor, you do indeed have everything you need.