“I am the Lord and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I send good times and bad times; I, the Lord, do all these things.”
God had anointed Cyrus, a Gentile ruler. God is the power overall and decides whom He chooses for specific and special tasks. He chose Cyrus, who would allow God’s city, Jerusalem to be rebuilt. It was he who would set the exiles free without expecting anything in return. Historically, few kings of Israel or Judah had done as much as Cyrus would.
God is also ruler over light and darkness. He ruled over prosperity and disaster (good and bad). Think about your life as I think about mine; think about both types of experiences you have had.
As I think about mine I can see what I have learned from the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the forwards and the backwards. If we’re honest we know that both types are needed for spiritual growth and spiritual healing.
When the good, the ups and the forwards come, thank God and use the prosperity and all that flourishes for him. When the bad, downs, and backwards come, don’t fight them nor resent them but ask God to show you what it is he wants you to learn or perhaps change within to make you a better servant of God.
Do not ever believe that God is not aware of what you go through; either way, He chose it for you and I. We choose what we do with it, how we handle it, what we learn from it and if we become better for it!
ritasalomon 