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Ezra 3:12-13 “but many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise, and the sound was heard far away.”  

Weeping and Joy go hand in hand. Especially when God is doing a new thing in our lives. In 2010 I remember as I was with my wife and spiritual father and we cut the ribbon to enter into our new sanctuary at Uturn. There was so many shouts of joy, but in the midst of that joy were many shouts of weeping. Not because it was a sad day, but a bittersweet remembrance of all we had to go through in order to get to this level.  

There will always be a reason to weep, but never allow your weeping to be louder than your shout for Joy! In the Book of Ezra, the elders were looking onward as the younger servants laid the foundation of the new temple. Their reason for weeping was not because they were upset at the new construction, but because the ark of the covenant of God would not be in this temple as the former temple. Perhaps they remembered the beauty of the former temple and how grand it was, but what they didn’t realize was that the ones building this temple had no recollection of the first one. Therefore, they had nothing to measure it with. It was important that the elders didn’t allow their weeping to discourage the younger generation because it could have paralyzed the new thing God was trying to do in them. 

 “Who dares despise the day of small things,” Zechariah 4:10.  Today’s new beginning may not look like what was, but the promise is that the latter will be greater than the former (Haggai 2:9).  

Just remember that weeping and joy go hand in hand, and always look up and allow your shout to be so loud that the weeping and the joy cannot be distinguished. Let the noise go far that God is doing a new thing! The amazing thing about this story is that the elders didn’t know that one day the presence of God that once dwelled in the 1st temple will not dwell within our mortal temples! Praise God!  

Prayer: Thank you Lord for the new thing you are doing in our lives today. Help us see beyond what’s here and may our joy be louder than our weeping. For joy comes in the morning! We exalt you o’ Lord! Have your way in our lives. Amen.