When God Stirs You Up

I am a person who loves to start projects, but I am not always the best with follow through. I start to put laundry away but then leave the pile of socks sitting on the bed, then they get moved to the table, then to the floor, until I finally put them away. Or I have a grand idea to begin something with my kids, and the first week or so it’s great, then when the excitement wears off it falls by the wayside. Follow through is not my strong suit and I am well aware of it. I have to intentionally tell myself to finish things well. Praise God I am married to a man who will tie up a lot of the loose ends for me. I have grand dreams and he tends to make them a reality. It is a beautiful part of our marriage, but I know that it is something I need to continually work on.

We left the Judean exiles at the altar last week. They rebuilt the altar and laid the foundation for the new temple and in all of their excitement, they praised God. But it didn’t take long for that excitement to be squelched by opposition.

Ezra 4:1-3, “When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, 2 they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

3 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

The enemies of Judah and Benjamin came in the form of different people groups who had been settled in Judea during the Babylon exile. While these people groups were forced to live in the unpopulated area of Jerusalem they were given a priest who tried to explain to them the God of Israel. This was only partially effective, because they absorbed this new God into their assortment of other gods. They were not wholeheartedly commited to God so the Judeans knew better than to let them participate in the process of rebuilding the temple.

What could have potentially gone wrong had they invited these outsiders to be a part of what God had called them to do?

When God gives a specific vision, dream or plan to someone, the second it is shared with another person it then becomes up for debate. The exiles knew what they had to do and they didn’t need outsiders telling them how to do it differently.

Whenever God gives us a vision for our future and the ministry He has called us to, if we share it with someone who doesn’t share the same faith as us, they can easily try to persuade us to either give up the dream or change it to fit their vision.

The Judeans were protective of the project God had entrusted to them. They didn’t want to be distracted by outside opinions or voices.

As soon as the Judeans turned down their enemies offer, the rebuilding efforts came to a total standstill.

Ezra 4:4-5,

4 Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.  5 They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

The people around them set out to discourage the people of Judea and make them afraid to go on building. There were many ways that the people did this. It came in the form of sneers, intimidation, and threats. But it didn’t stop there, they tried to discredit God’s people and get them on the wrong side of authorities. Their “neighbors” criticized their plans, told them it was impossible, gave them every bad look in the book, and persistently discredited their efforts.

The last part of that passage gives us an idea of how long this lasted. The discouraging tactics started during the reign of King Cyrus, it continued on through the reign of King Xerxes (Esther’s husband), and King Artaxerxes. It finally finished during the reign of King Darius.

The majority of Ezra chapter 4 is evidence of the harassment by the local people. Not only were they discouraging the Judeans on the ground, they wrote multiple letters to the reigning kings to stop the rebuilding process completely.

Ezra 4:6, At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes,  they lodged an accusation against the people of Judah and Jerusalem.

Then, when King Artexerxes came into power, they wrote another letter which said,

The king should know that the people who came up to us from you have gone to Jerusalem and are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city. They are restoring the walls and repairing the foundations.

13 Furthermore, the king should know that if this city is built and its walls are restored, no more taxes, tribute or duty will be paid, and eventually the royal revenues will suffer. 14 Now since we are under obligation to the palace and it is not proper for us to see the king dishonored, we are sending this message to inform the king, 15 so that a search may be made in the archives of your predecessors. In these records you will find that this city is a rebellious city, troublesome to kings and provinces, a place with a long history of sedition. That is why this city was destroyed. 16 We inform the king that if this city is built and its walls are restored, you will be left with nothing in Trans-Euphrates.”

They used scare tactics to get the king’s attention and it worked! They used Judea’s history to prove to the king that the Judeans were a rebellious lot. They inferred that if the temple and city were rebuilt, the king would lose his power over that region. King Artexerxes bought the whole thing and wrote a letter in response telling them to cease their work of rebuilding. He finishes his letter by saying, “Why let this threat grow, to the detriment of the royal interests?” His agenda was clear, he wanted to remain in power so he stomped out any possible threat to his kingdom.

Ezra 4:24, “Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

This onslaught of discouragement lasted for 16 years. In those 16 years the Judeans went from an extreme high, the joy and excitement at the prospect of rebuilding Jerusalem. To an extreme low, ceasing all work on the Temple. They lived their lives once again under the oppression of a king who did not worship or honor their God.

The people of God knew what they were called to do. They were sent from Babylon to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. They had been given directions, authority, and resources. But they were met with discouragement.

Discouragement will bring God’s people to a standstill.

This happens to us all the time doesn’t it? God gives us an awesome idea, a vision, a dream, or a calling and we take hold of it immediately and there is a honeymoon period. We’re excited about it and we can’t wait to begin the work. In our excitement we share these revelations with others and we are almost immediately faced with discouragement.

People who don’t see the dream God gave you, or they can’t envision what God has revealed to you so they immediately discount it. If the vision sounds outlandish, which most of God’s plans do, then people will always point out the ways it will fail.

I have been on both sides of this. I have been given dreams and visions from God and the minute I share them I am met with sceptical looks and discouraging words.

What I have learned is to guard the dreams and visions that God gives me and wait on Him to reveal them to others. Not everyone is going to be on your team. Not everyone will catch the vision God has given you. You hold onto what God has revealed to you and wait for Him to bring about the people who are supposed to walk that dream into reality with you. Don’t in your zeal spill the beans to everyone. If you do that, then you will have to wade through the dark and murky waters of discouragement.

Unfortunately, I have also been on the discouraging side of things. People have entrusted their great dreams and visions to me and I have been the one to find all the reasons why it could never work. This critical spirit has been an issue for me in the past, and it still creeps up sometimes. Instead of entering into the plans that God has given someone, I quickly critically analyze the details and in the process all of the joy is sucked out of their fresh revelation.

So, discouragement can come from all different places, it can come from people who don’t share the same faith as us. It can come from people who share the same faith but cannot see how the vision will come to fruition. But sometimes discouragement doesn’t come from the outside, it comes from the inside. Our logical minds can’t comprehend what God has shown us so we brush it off as nonsense. It’s hard for us to comprehend what God is asking us to do. If we don’t allow the Spirit to reveal those things to us, we will quit before we even get started because it seems impossible.

If that doesn’t discourage us, Satan loves to use our past against us. It comes back to haunt us and we discredit ourselves from the get go.

Whatever avenue discouragement takes, it all stems from the same source.

2. Satan, our enemy, is always out to discourage the plans that God has set into motion.

He can use anyone and anything to come against the dreams and visions God has given you. He will use doubt to extinguish the flame of excitement God gives you. He will throw your past in your face, and tell you that you are not good enough to carry out the plans of God.

His goal is to keep you comfortable. Don’t step out of your comfort zone, stay where you are, don’t rock the boat. His other goal is to keep you dormant. Don’t grow, don’t change, don’t try anything new.

The plans God had for rebuilding Jerusalem laid dormant for 16 years as the Israelites went about their own business of building their own lives. Zerubabel, the political leader of the Judeans, was supposed to lead the rebuilding efforts. Unfortunately he was hit the hardest and he let it keep him down for 16 years. The discouragement from all of the outsiders deflated his excitement. That discouragement had also rubbed off onto the Judeans, who were supposed to help him rebuild the temple. He was hit on both sides. Those who opposed the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Judeans who were defeated by the constant pressure of the opposition.

3. When we are opposed on every side it is very easy to throw our hands in the air and give up.

If you can’t even get your own people to follow through with God’s plans for the Temple, why bother?

What Zarubabel wanted was a constant source of encouragement. He wanted people to just do what they had set out to do. He came into this project not expecting the opposition they were hit with.

4. We will always face opposition when we walk in obedience to God.

His Kingdom functions in a totally different way than any kingdom of earth. The way He rules and reigns is unlike any other leader or ruler on earth. His agenda usually goes against every other agenda set by man. The way He accomplishes things is unconventional and He usually gives us dreams and visions that are way bigger than anything we could do in and of ourselves. This is because He wants us to rely totally on Him to work through us and reveal to the world just how sovereign, faithful, trustworthy, and powerful He is.

But so often, we let the discouraging words of others, or the discouraging words of our true enemy keep us from doing what God has called us to do.

All the plans that God has for us to do will come to a standstill if we choose to listen to those discouraging words. But God is too faithful to just let us sit dormant. His plans are too important to be set aside. If He has given you a dream or a vision for you life, your calling in His Kingdom, He will be faithful to bring it to completion.

Sometimes all we need is a voice to break through and breathe new life into what we thought was dead.

Haggai was a prophet during this time in Judean history. God sent him to Jerusalem to wake His people up and get them moving.

Haggai 1:1–6 NIV

In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest: This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ ” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

When we suppress the call of God we will soon find that our lives feel meaningless. It will feel like we work really hard, and all for nothing. Just like the Lord said about the Judeans, they had planted much but harvested little. They weren’t ever satisfied even when they gained all of the material possessions their hearts should’ve wanted. Since the house of the Lord still laid in ruins, their lives were unfulfilled and empty.

5. God will never let us stay comfortable when we are outside of His will.

You can try to quiet the voice of the Holy Spirit, but it will always remain there, reminding you of the calling God has on your life.

Haggai’s reminder caught the attention of Zarubabel and Joshua. But God’s words weren’t enough.

Haggai 1:13-15, Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people: “I am with you,” declares the LORD. 14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month.

God stirred up the spirit in His people to finish what they had started. Once their spirits had been stirred up, nothing could stop them!

The Hebrew word used here for “stirred” means to rouse oneself, to awaken from sleep, to be in an alert state ready to act.

God has stirred my spirit on many occasions. When it happens it is almost as if I’ve been awakened from sleep and placed into a great adventure. The course is set, all I have to do is take steps to obey.

6. God has given each person a calling and He wants to stir up your spirit.

Some of you are called to be teachers, nurses, doctors, political leaders, workers, pastors, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. Our callings all look different, but they are extremely important in the Kingdom of God. The opportunities God gives us to minister to the lost and broken are all around us but we allow discouraging words and actions to stop us in our tracks.

Today, I believe we may all be in totally different places. Some people here may have never sought God’s calling on their lives. You haven’t even considered that there is more to this life than the monotonous ins and outs of daily life. If this you, would you take this verse and let it become your truth. Ephesians 2:10, For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

There are are some people today who have received a calling from God. You have been entrusted with dreams and visions about what you are called to do for His Kingdom, but because of discouragement you have faced, you have allowed it to lay dormant. Today, would you ask the Holy Spirit to stir it up in you once more. Then choose to take the steps He’s asking you to take in faithful obedience. Make this your hearts cry for today, Psalm 37:23-24

“The LORD makes firm the steps

of the one who delights in him;

24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,

for the LORD upholds him with his hand.”

Or maybe you have been the one who has dreamed and you have tried to walk that calling out, but it hasn’t ended the way you thought it would. Those dreams you once had have come crashing down around you and you feel hopeless. Don’t give up. God’s not done with you yet. The Judean exiles had left God’s temple in ruins for 16 years and God didn’t give up on them. He used them to rebuild that temple. They were discouraged but not defeated. Allow this verse to bring you hope as you continue to walk faithfully in the calling He’s given you. Psalm 138:8,

“The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me;

your steadfast love, LORD, endures forever—

do not abandon the works of your hands.”

It’s time to dream again. It’s time to allow God to give us visions of what He has called us to. It’s time to faithfully take obedient steps towards Him as He calls us forward. As we do this, His Kingdom will expand and we will see His will done on earth as it is in Heaven. Holy Spirit stir us up!

The New International Version. (2011). (Ps 138:8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (Ps 37:23–24). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (Eph 2:10). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (Hag 1:13–15). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The New International Version. (2011). (Ezr 4:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.