I was ashamed to ask the king for soldiers and horsemen to protect
us from enemies on the road, because we had told the king, ‘The gracious hand
of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all
who forsake him.’
Tris came home late last night with a pre-Valentine hot choco for me.
I hugged him for his sweetness, then asked ‘Can I save it for tomorrow
morning?’ Sensing it was the thrifty-me taking over, he spilled the beans why
he went to Starbucks: to check out which drink and pastry he’ll surprise me with for
breakfast. I again acknowledged the thought but told him I already prepared for
that, and the special dinner. ‘I’ll just bring you home a special
dessert!’ he said, still excitedly. But I told him the kids are set to surprise
him with baking too. ‘So is there anything else I can surprise you with?’ he
softly said. Then I knew I was doing it
all wrong.
Ezra’s task in chapter 8 was to bring home the second set of exiles
from Babylon. God worked in Artaxerxes heart and they were given a go, and a
lot of gold too. As he sat by the Ahava Canal, their meeting place, he probably
visualized the journey a hundred times in his head and noted all the ifs and buts
ahead. The distance was around nine hundred miles by foot and the danger of
bandits were real. In his heart was the urge to request Artaxerxes for
bodyguards. A just in case. Nothing seemed wrong with that, except that he gave
the testimony of God’s gracious hand on them. It would contradict his claim of
God’s protection if he’ll ask for more protection. And so for God’s honor, he quenched
his human reasoning’s pull. He entrusted
everyone and everything to God, and He never failed them.
1 Corinthians 13 says love protects. In my story and Ezra’s, it is that call for
the honor of the ones we love. Relationship verses almost always have or imply that
those two words go together. That is, for parents and children, husband and
wife, and brethren to brethren, to honor one another. And what exactly does protecting their honor look like? Let’s
use the word defense. It is that which blocks all the arrows intended for the
city. To us, it means forsaking our convenience and security, status or idea, even
personal plans, for the sake of God’s honor and those that we love. It is their
name above ours, their preference over ours, their interest not ours. Now that’s
a lot like love.
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