If you have been watching the online church services I have been posting in recent weeks, then you will know that the last several have been following the story of the biblical character Ezra. I will let you do your own watching and reading if you chose, but to summarize quickly for the point.

Ezra was a leader of the Jewish people migrating from Babylon to Jerusalem. The book of the bible describes some of the trials and tribulations of the journey. My church organization is using this story as a building block to discuss the fundamentals of how churches are built.

So, you remember last week where I said that you have got to do something, even if it was wrong? Well if you watch this, then you will get some conflicting advice. Now, I did actually write what I meant which is that is only do something for unimportant decisions. And that is truly not in conflict with the message.

As I think about the ideas of submission and compromise, I believe that the objective to waiting for an answer is actually the act communicating in prayer. I have heard it said by people that are more diligent about faith that the more you take the time, the more it seems quicker and more frequent.

I think that we have all had the moments where we realize we are in a sticky situation and we promise to change to get out of the problem. A small number of people probably do, I suspect the vast number of people are reaching for hope at the moment and when that situation changes people go back to what they were doing.

This week’s questions and discussion are

  • How to you express confession to God?
  • What are you waiting for right now?

I find it extremely prophetic that what I wrote about on Friday comes back around to smack me in the face on Sunday. It seems pretty clear to me that I need to continue to wait and have faith that my situation will change into what it is supposed to be.

It is very difficult to contextualize the events of today when you are in the middle of it. Once the true picture is revealed, you are able to see what decisions are made and grow from the experiences. I suppose it is very much like science. Conclusions are only made after the data is gathered, analyzed and tested against the hypothesis. So when we are in the middle of a situation, we are only gathering the data.