Is God Stirring Your Heart?
Then God stirred the hearts of the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple of the Lord. And all their neighbors assisted by giving them articles of silver and gold, supplies for the journey, and livestock… ~ Ezra 1:5 - 6 NLT
The book of Ezra begins with God stirring the heart of Cyrus, the Persian King, and then stirring the hearts of “the priests and Levites and the leaders of the tribes of Judah”. What’s all this stirring about?
First, God stirs Cyrus’ heart (the NIV says “the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus”) to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem for “the LORD, the God of heaven” - an amazing proclamation for a pagan king!
Second, God stirs (or moves) the hearts of the religious and political leaders of Israel, who’d been deported by the Babylonians decades earlier, to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.
God moves the hearts of men and women to accomplish incredible things that bless many and make “his will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Is God stirring your heart? How would you know?
God stirs hearts in accordance with his word. Jeremiah 29:10 said that God would send his disobedient people to Babylon for 70 years, but would then bring them home again and “do all the good things I have promised”. Those 70 years had elapsed, and the prophecy needed to be fulfilled. If you think God may be stirring your heart, first ask: “Is this desire I/we have to do something in agreement with God’s word?”
God always moves our hearts toward action. If the Holy Spirit is stirring your heart you can be confident there is something God has for you to do. That restlessness you feel should point toward action that serves God’s purposes in new or deeper ways. If you feel content just thinking or talking about it, God hasn’t stirred your heart yet.
God provides the means to accomplish his desires. We read in the passage above that “all their neighbors assisted by giving articles of silver and gold”. When God moves his people to action it will require resources they don’t yet have, but always get provided along the way.
Pay attention to the ways God may be stirring your heart. He has incredible things he wants to do in and through our lives that will change the world for generations to come.