Determination

Ezra 7:28b Because the hand of the Lord my God was on me, I took courage and gathered leaders from Israel to go up with me.

It was no small or insignificant task that Ezra was taking on.  He was going to be going back to Israel to rebuild Jerusalem and he had never been there nor had he ever done anything like that.  His background was all “wrong” for this.  Besides that, the people living in that area were enemies of the Israelites, and much more powerful.  This verse says that Ezra took a deep breath, so to speak, and jumped right into the task at hand.  And why/how did he gather up the courage?  Because he knew the Lord’s hand was on him and would bring success.  That give him the courage to step out and prepare for the journey and the job ahead.  In fact, earlier in the chapter, in verse 9-10 we are told that the hand of blessing of God was on Ezra specifically because he had set his heart to study, obey and teach God’s word.  That determination gave Ezra what he needed to take on that big task.  If we know God’s hand is on us for a task, we can step up and act courageously.