Even the Overall Winner Losses Some Rounds

Ezra 4:23
As soon as the copy of the letter of King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum and Shimshai the secretary and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and compelled them by force to stop.

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.

Jerusalem was rebuilt under great difficulties. Circumstances seemed to favor the enemy more than they favored Israel. When the wall and the Temple got finished it was a great celebration of overcoming hurdle after hurdle.

The point of the story from which our text is derived explains one hurdle. Israel was busy building the Temple but their enemies were busy doing everything to stop them. They failed in their attempts to infiltrate them, Ezra 4:2. They failed in their attempt to discourage them, Ezra 4:4. They now were busy enlisting more people to hate Israelites on their behalf, Ezra 4:5.

Eventually, they went to the authorities with a convincing letter to tell the king and his team that Israelites are still a threat and they should not be allowed to rebuild the Temple, Ezra 4:12-13. Enemies will do everything to harm us and affect our progress. Leaders should be sensitive that many individuals who volunteer damaging information about others to them, could be enemies recruiting the leaders to harm the person on their behalf. The king unknowingly accepted to ban the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple, Ezra 4:21-22.

When the king wrote a letter banning the rebuilding works in Jerusalem, the work stopped completely. The work stopped for a whole two years. Can you imagine how discouraged they were? They wondered how God allowed such a holy assignment to be stopped by wicked people. It is important to know that if an enemy wins one or two small fights, it shouldn’t worry you if eventually will gain the overall victory.

Israelites suffered a setback. Setbacks are normal in life. Not everything goes as planned. Many things go wrong. Murphy’s law states that “what can go wrong will go wrong.” Israelites looked defeated for two years. Israelites felt like they had been abandoned by God. The enemy had won against them. It is important to know that even the final overall winner has a history of some losses!

Ezra 6:14-16
(14) So the elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. (15) The temple was completed on the third day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.
(16) Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites, and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

Even though Israel experienced some losses in their struggle to build God’s temple, eventually they succeeded. There was a two-year period of pain according to the Bible, but it all ended well. Losses today are not permanent, you can still be a winner. Even the overall winner losses some rounds!

Have you failed? Rise up, dust yourself, and keep on fighting. Loss is not final. Even with the present loss, you can still be the final champion. Keep on fighting and struggling, it won’t last forever. This loss is not final and it’s not a deterrent to final victory. You will be the final winner and yet you will still fail between now and that victory. Even the overall winner losses some rounds!

Someone has correctly said that no road is all smooth and no life is all rough. Your studies will have a rough patch sometimes. Your job may have hard times. Your business may face difficulties. Your relationship may head to the rocks. Your health can fail. But these seeming failures and difficulties do not mean you cannot come out and be victorious in the end. May God grant us grace to persevere the current losses before He grants us the final victory, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

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