Unexpected Blessings - King Cyrus

In the first year of King Cyrus of Persia, the LORD fulfilled the prophecy he had given through Jeremiah. He stirred the heart of Cyrus to put this proclamation in writing and to send it throughout his kingdom.

Ezra 1:1

Someone once said that those who follow and serve Christ are “instruments in the hand of God.” When we submit ourselves to his will and purposes, he uses us as implements to change our part of the world.

You probably don’t have a problem with the idea of being an instrument in God’s hand, but what about some of the instruments he uses to bless you, mold you, or correct you? The grumpy, intolerant boss? The family member who wants nothing to do with God? The physical difficulties you can’t seem to shake?

Sometimes God uses completely “secular” means in order to bring about his perfect will. He used Cyrus, king of Persia, in that way.

Within a year of Cyrus’s conquest of Babylon, the king issued a decree that freed the people of Judah from their seventy years of exile and returned to them the gold and silver articles Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Temple. Though at first it appears that Cyrus acted out of compassion and love for God, the truth is that Cyrus didn’t know or serve God. Cyrus did those things only because God had stirred his heart.

About 150 years before Cyrus issued his decree, the prophet Isaiah wrote of him, “Why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one” (Isaiah 45:4).

Cyrus didn’t have a life of faith or personal fellowship with God. He was simply an instrument in God’s hand as he worked out his will in his people’s lives.

God can and may do something like that in your life.

God often blesses and guides his people using unexpected means. When you submit to his will and purposes, he can even use things you consider to be “secular” for your good and for his glory.