Proverbs 13:12  Hope deferred makes the heart sick: but when the desire is
fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
     Seventy years is a long time to wait for restoration. There are two possible responses for the mind that perceives that the object of their long awaited hope has not yet materialized...beyond any time frame imaginable. The first is common...forget it.  That is an easy for the natural mind to accept closed response. It omits any need to question or debate. Case closed... forget it! This is the path of cynicism and despair.
     The other response is to cling to what you believe until your hopes are materialized. That is not something that most people are willing to do. Nobody wants to look foolish and most people opt for the sure bets in life. Of course, if I know something that you don't know, an inside track maybe, then you may buy and sell stocks at my suggestion, despite the apparant lack of logic to that stock choice. Like, if I worked for a company and I told you that it was about to fold tomorrow, you would run to sell your stock. I know nothing about stock...except that cows have spots...sometimes. And, cows give milk, and they don't fly. 
Isaiah 44:28  That says of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all
my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple,
Your foundation shall be laid.
     But, the Bible is timeless and God's plan is unchanging. I believe every word was inspired by God almighty. I buy into it, and invest all I own in the black words, as well as the red. So did some of the Jews in Captivity. King Cyrus was far ahead of his time. He was King of Babylon and it was nearing the end of the seventy years of captivity that had been prophesied for the Jews. Cyrus believed he was also in Bible prophesy slated to set God's people free, so he set in place some very humanitarian policies of allowing displaced persons to return to their homeland. A few of the Jews jumped at this chance to return home, but many didn't want to walk away from all the possessions they had acquired in Babylon. So, the few repatriotized Jews lived in a state of despair, almost giving up hope that they would ever be restored as a country when Cyrus was quickly replaced by a not so humanitarian King, and the Jews filtering back into Israel was halted.
     Of course, there were a lot of Jews who had never been deported out of Israel to start with, and they had been there all those 70 long years, while their countrymen lived in far off Babylon. These guys were not much help or hope for rebuilding a country when they were not even seen as worth deporting, left behind in decaying Jerusalem's rubble as worthless to the Babylonian empire. The remaining Jews were the ones who put up the most resistance to Nehemiah's plans to rebuild.
     Zechariah is an awesome book of hope. He lived at a time in Israel, being just a child in one of the first few families allowed to return, before Cyrus died. He had reason to believe the time was near. He had hope, a precious commodity. He was called by God to mobilize the people in Israel to rebuild Jerusalem. This was to prove a big task and would invoke a lot of criticism and animosity from people who didn't want to see it done. The detractors were mostly Jews, not outsiders. There were even plots on Nehemiah's life.
Zechariah 5:9  Then I lifted up my eyes, and looked, and, behold, there
came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the
wings of a stork: and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
     There is so much more to the story, if you read all of Zechariah and Nehemiah, but you can't fly through Zechariah. It has so many beautiful vignettes of hope. Zack was told to pay attention by an angel that was in his vision. So he looks up and sees this large basket or pot being carried through the sky with an old lady inside, and then a huge lid was dropped on top of it. Zack sort of looked surprised and exclaimed, "What is that?!" The angel said the old lady was symbolic of wickedness and was being carried to Babylon where she was worshipped and would have a nice home. Now, I am laughing at the appropriateness of this political slam made by a politically incorrect prophet. Well, actually it wasn't his gaffe, but the angels' carrying the basket, you could argue. But, wickedness is happier in some places than others I have seen.
     Two lady angels were carrying the basket through the sky. The women had wings like a stork. I wonder why they were women? To me it sounds like prayer. These women were prayer warriors carrying away the sin of the people with prayer. When we pray, it feels like our words have wings, being carried to God with ease, sometimes. I've seen God respond so fast it almost shocked me. And, that it why I continue to hold onto my hope in God when hope is deferred. I have every reason to believe Him when I have seen His promises fulfilled so many times. He is a man of His words.

    Job 11:16-17  Because you shall forget
your misery, and remember it as
waters that pass away: And your life shall
be brighter than the noonday; you
shall shine forth, you shall be as the
morning.
     I remember hiking through the deep woods (no trails) on the first of August 2009. I remember this particular hike because I discovered a creek deep in the woods, when I crawled through deep overgrowth and trees that were as close as I was wide. The creek was peaceful and hidden, rocks out in the middle of it and it reminded me of the rivers in Tennessee where I use to visit my grandparents as a child. On this particular hike, I made the video attached below. I didn't realize I wouldn't have the chance to go back there for so long, since it was 2 months before the first surgery. 
     Needless to say, listening to myself on the video now, saying "Remember This" it seems like a call... a time capsule message beckoning me to fight, to refuse to give up until I can hike through deep woods for 10 miles again. It calls me to remember that I can and will ride my bike that 100 mile trip I was aiming for that summer. It stirs my dreams to run my first 10K, and maybe even my first half marathon instead of living on the memories of my 5K runs. 

     It all boils down to what I believe that God is. I believe that God is
able to restore my health. I believe that God
wants me to be healthy. I believe that God
is going to restore my health. After all...God is...

"God is good, God is love, God is a consuming fire, God is a merciful God, God is one Lord, God is a jealous God, God is God of Gods,  God is among you, God is He that hath fought for you, God is upon thee, God is my strength and power, God is gracious and merciful, God is great, God is greater than man, God is mighty, God is with terrible majesty, God is our refuge and strength, God is the King of all the Earth, God is our God, God is judge himself, God is mine helper, God is for me, God is my defense, God is my salvation and my glory, God is a sun and shield, God is holy, God is in the heavens, God is pure, God is with us, God is righteous, God is able, God is at hand, God is true, God is a Spirit, God is no respecter of persons, God is my witness, God is revealed, God is faithful, God is not bound, God is well pleased, God is light, God is greater than our heart, and God is forever and ever."
     I would give you these traits of God in the New KJV, but I collected them several years ago in the old English. The words could be different in the new English, and I don't want to look. I want to hold on to this in my heart. If you want to see it in either version, you can download free Bible software online, such as the SwordSearcher software I use. They allow you to read in different versions, and they offer search tools that allow you to put in any search term, such as the words "God is" and pull up all the verses that use those words. I sliced the phrases from there. It doesn't matter which version you use, but it is easier to memorize if you pick a version to use and stick with it. Just note, with most freeware you can use the free version for awhile, but then they ask that you send in a $20.oo donation eventually if you plan to keep using the software. I have used my paid version for about six or seven years...well worth it! "A workman is worthy of his hire."

                                                For Sale, barely used life. 1964 Model, fully restored in '79. 
                                                Hi-quality sound system. Shifts gears easily, excellent transmission. 
                                                Exterior needs some body work. Lo-mileage. Only driven to church 
                                                twice a week for 32 years by a Christian lady.
 

     God has a plan for every life. I just don't know how far I've gotten in His plan. I look at the lives of great Christians who have gone before me, and I have to wonder, what could I accomplish if I were on the shoulders of these giants? nanos gigantium humeris insidentes - Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants (Latin)
     No, instead of mounting the achievements of the past, I strive to go my own route, and being quite dwarfed myself I fail to accomplish much in the way that would propel this Gospel forward towards God's coming Kingdom. Why am I here...now...in this moment? What can I do for God, if...? What is it that God needs? These are all questions we have to answer for ourselves.
     Esther 4:14  For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then
shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place;
but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou
art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
     It would be so much easier if we all had an Uncle Mordecai to tell us what to do for God. That seems to be the work of the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, in our lives. The Spirit within us compels us to move, to actually do something. 
     Philippians 3:12-14  Not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also
I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have
apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark
for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
     Yes, the Spirit compels me to reach for what God calls me to do in this world. It is for this reason that I realize I need to sell out to God all that I hold back from Him. After all, He already paid for the sale on Calvary.

*There is no ending for tonights blog...since it is just a series of conclusions.