After a long time of exile and servitude to the Babylonians, the people of God were ready to return to their place of worship and restore the joy of their salvation.  The Holy city of God was in ruins.  No temple and no place to offer sacrifices of worship unto God.  I’m sure they felt hopeless and in much despair. 

Despite the disparity and hopelessness we feel at times, God always has a plan for His children, just as He did for the Israelites. Even when our suffering and bondage is of our own doing, God still shows mercy and has a way to rescue and bring us to restoration.  God always has an appointed time to deliver His people and reconcile them back to Himself.  His mercy truly does endure forever.  The words in Zachariah 4:6, spoken by the Prophet was showing Zerubbabel that to rebuild the temple would not be accomplished by His own strength nor his own power, but it would be accomplished by the Spirit of the living God.

How many times do we face difficult situations and try to get through these times on our own and by our own devices and strategies?  As followers of Christ, our dependency must totally be in God. We cannot accomplish the will of God through the flesh. Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 10:4, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds”. God has given us his weapons of prayer, fasting and his word to stand against any and every stronghold in our lives.  Every challenge in our lives, must be met with spiritual means. This eliminates our dependence on the arm of flesh.  It is only through God’s Spirit that we can be victorious in the challenges of life that come our way. If we will choose to follow the path that God has laid out in his word, we will experience His blessings in ways that will amaze us and encourage us.  We will have great testimonies of what God has done. God will be glorified and we will move from glory to glory and faith to faith in Christ Jesus.   Let’s depend on His Spirit to guide us through every battle.  Amen!