Fears and Foes While Following God and Achieving Goals

“Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar . . .” Ezra 3:3

Facing fears and foes in order to achieve goals or to follow God’s leading goes way back. The Biblical account surrounding the scripture above is just one such example.

God had moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to issue a proclamation calling all of God’s people to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. After they had “assembled as one man in Jerusalem” (Ezra 3:1), the priests and other leaders ...