Extreme Makeover Part 2: When Resistance Comes

Terri and I live in Georgia. We've lived here for two and a half years now. But I spent most of my life living in Colorado, where I loved nothing more than to be deep in the mountains. One of my passions is fly fishing. I have many fond memories of working a fly rod on some pristine, high elevation stream, trying to attract the attention of a native cutthroat or rainbow trout. I actually caught a golden trout once.
I remember one of my favorite fishing spots was located just down from the gold medal waters of the South Platte. The place was hard to get to; you had to do some hiking and boulder climbing to get to it, but once you were there it was usually well worth it. But in order to get myself in the best position I had to walk out into the swift running, icy cold water and make my way upstream to a spot where on underwater peninsula of ground split the river in two. This was where I could cast out to where the biggest trout were. It was hard and dangerous making my way out there, but anything worth anything usually requires some resistance.
What do you do when struggles and resistance comes into our life? When things don't seem to be working out the way you planned? When the going gets tough? Do you run? Give up? Or is it time for you to dig your feet in and work against the torrential current?
Ezra 4-6 helps us to see what we must do in times like these. Within these chapters we see the struggles, the resistance that occurred in the Israelite's desire to rebuild God's house, His temple, and how His people responded. It is a message as relevant today as it was then.
First there is the opposition. God called His people to rebuild the temple, but the way would not be a smooth one. There would be resistance, and we can see it coming from three types of people.
1. The wolves. We see this in verse 2 of chapter four. Their enemies pretended to want to help them. But their motives were not pure ones. They were really enemies who did not want to see the temple rebuilt.
2. The nay-sayers. As in verse 4, these are the ones who try to discourage you, as they did with those who endeavored to build the temple. They not only troubles them in the building, but they also hired other "counselors" to frustrate them "all the days." Do you know anybody like that?
3. The special interests. These were the ones who had gained some political clout and feared loosing their power and control, so they applied pressure to thwart the rebuilding (v.6ff). They wrote false accusations about them, calling the work "Evil and rebellious," even though it was God Himself who called His people to go and rebuild, "everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild" (1:5).

But the building resumed. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah prophesied (see Haggai 1:3-8; 12-14, Zechariah 4:1-9), and the people resumed tne building. The jews had been forced by fierce opposition to stop the work for a time, but now God was calling them to revive the work, and He expected His people to respond in faith and action.
Note verse four of chapter five; "The eye of their God was upon the elders of the Jews." This speaks of the sovereignty and providence of God. God was protecting and watching over those who obeyed Him.
Then in Chapter six, the decree was sent out by the ruler to let the rebuilding continue without delay: "Let the house be rebuilt...Let the foundations of it be firmly laid...Let...the Jews build this house of God on its site...that they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven."
Eventually the foundation and the temple were rebuilt and dedicated, just as God called it to be. They celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy, for the Lord caused them to rejoice and turned the heart of the king toward them.
There is a word given to God's people during this time. It is a prophetic word that I and others in our church believe is a word for our church. Perhaps this word is for you and your church as well. It's found in Haggai 2:1-9. Let me just point out four things that are said inthis word:
1. "Take courage" (v.4).
2. "Work" (v.4b).
3. "I am with you" (v.4).
4. "My spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!" (v.5).

I believe this is a word for we at Pointe South Community Church. So what about you? Maybe you'r eready to give up on what God has called you to be or to do. Perhaps you know of a church that seems to have fallen on tough times. What are you going to do? I have four suggestions for you: "Take courage...work...I am with you...My spirit is abiding in your midst; do not fear!"
Winston Churchill, in a speech given on the cusp of France falling to the Nazi regime and the enemy mere miles from England's shores, said; "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'" May that be said of Pointe South, and may that be said of all of His people when things seem bleak and we're feeling the resistance as we force ourselves against the current; this was our finest hour! Selah.