ezra 7

I've set my heart on a lot of things over the years. I've wanted to be popular. I've wanted to sing and dance. I've wanted to be a wife, and then a mother. I've wanted to throw amazing parties and bake awesome cakes. I've wanted to be a good friend. I've wanted to be organized and on time. I've wanted to meet the needs of others. I've wanted to be able to take beautiful photographs. One day I might still want to be a race car driver. Who knows! One thing I do know, none of those things, whether they were good or bad, selfish or altruistic, ever lived up to the hype I created for them in my head. It's kind of like when your kid was four and they wanted to use the vacuum, but now they're eleven and don't know why vacuums even exist. 

In Ezra 7, we finally meet Ezra! It's been almost 60 years since the temple was completed in Ezra 6 and during this time, the events recorded in the book of Esther have taken place. Ezra was a priest and a scribe. He was an expert when it came to matters of the commandments of the Lord. He wasn't just in the priestly line of Aaron (if you read that A-A-Ron, bonus points), but he was a man who had taken time to study Scripture and to get to know the Lord. 

Ezra 7:10 tells us a key piece of information about Ezra. He had "set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach His statutes and rules in Israel." I love this! It's just about the best personal mission statement I've ever seen. What does it even mean though? Ezra had responded to the Lord's stirring in his heart to seek Him. He was motivated to study the Law of the Lord, to apply it in his own life and to then teach it to others. He did the work of preparing his heart. He continued the work of studying, applying, and sharing. None of it was easy, and we can be confident that he messed up sometimes, but he persisted.

And he was rewarded for it, because the hand of the Lord was on Him, as we see in verses 9 and 28, and that gave him courage to do what He'd been called to do. When we are obedient to God, He will stick with us and we will find courage in that. That's not to say it will all be easy. Ezra had to leave his home and spend four months traveling without a rest stop in sight. But he had the courage to do it because he was obedient. 

I think there's so much to learn from these small verses tucked away in the middle of Ezra. When I set my heart on something, it must be what the Lord has stirred up in me, not something I've dreamed up on my own. In order to be sensitive to the stirring of the Lord in my heart, I must be seeking Him, in His Word, in prayer, in my actions. When He leads and I obey, the experience will be like none other. 

tip:

Setting goals in our homes and celebrating accomplishments can be great motivation. One year over spring break, my kids and I came up with five fun activities that we wanted to do. The list included things like seeing a movie at the movie theater, going out for ice cream, and meeting up with friends. Then we set a goal for each day, things like clean out the cabinets, get the living room and dining room totally clean, or organize the toys. If we accomplished our goal for the day, we got our reward. It was a great way to make progress and still have fun!

tool:

One of my favorite organization tools is, (maybe you should sit down for this) a clipboard. I know. Target has clipboards in their bargain section. They're pretty and will run you about $5. My clipboard is my command center. There's a lot happening at my house. A lot. If I don't do something to intentionally remember what is going on, I'll forget it. So I can't just ask my kids what their homework is, I have to write it down if I want to check on their progress. Everything goes on the clipboard: chore cards, the grocery list, the school lunch menu, my to do list, the meal planner, my daily organizer, it's all there so I don't have to go searching for a bunch of papers, just the clipboard!