“Now then, governor, stay away from there. Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God. Let (them) rebuild this house of God. The expenses of these men are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury…Whatever is needed—must be given them daily without fail.”
Ezra 6:6-9 (NIV)
A little while ago we bought new electronic door locks. We could not get the code to work and tried everything in the troubleshooting section of the instructions. There was only one option left and that was to press the reset button. I held that button down and heard the mechanism reset. I was then able to start over and set the code properly.

God allowed the Israelites to hit the reset button in life. At the end of their 70 year Babylonian captivity, God called them to rebuild the Temple that was destroyed. God had Cyrus the King of Babylon decree them to rebuild the Temple and committed the government of Babylon to paying for it! With excitement they began and laid down the foundation. Then they got sidetracked on their stuff and set aside completing what God called them to do. Almost 20 years passed and God reminded them of this call to rebuild the Temple through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. The people repented and began to rebuild the Temple with their own money. The local governor saw what they were doing and stopped them. The Governor sent a letter telling the new King, Darius about their work hoping to have them blocked from ever rebuilding again. Instead, King Darius sent a letter reinstating the decree King Cyrus had issued commissioning them to rebuild the Temple and committing to pay for the work from government funds! God gave them a second chance to do what He had called them to do. This time, they completed it!
A few years ago I went back to my former Bible College for a reunion. It was great to reconnect with people that I hadn’t seen for decades. Previously, leadership moved the school out of the campus where I had attended and this was the first year that they were back in the old buildings. A former classmate, Craig Burton was speaking at the reunion. In his sermon he talked about how he felt that God had hit the reset button for the Bible College. He said that he felt the Lord saying He was hitting the reset button on the lives of some of the people attending. I knew the Lord was speaking to me. God has hit the reset button on my life. This time, I will complete it!
Prayer
Father…Thank-you for second chances. Please forgive me for the decisions I made in the past that veered from your plan. Help me to complete all that You’ve called me to do! In Jesus Name…Amen.