“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.”

Ezra 4:1-5 ESV

http://bible.com/59/ezr.4.1-5.esv

All,

This stands out because the writer says, “Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose”. How often do roadblocks come out of nowhere to prevent you from doing something God has put on your heart? I think spiritual warfare is alive and well and will always try to threaten the plans God has for you. However, God’s power is greater than any other power. Please pray that we and our friends pray for God’s power to carry forward when we sense resistance to His plans. Please pray for a friend of mine contemplating changing careers.