God has Wonderful Plans

The date in Zech 1:7 tells us that at this stage the building of the temple has been on hold for approximately 10 years. One of the main reasons for this, apparently, was the opposition of the enemies surrounding the city. It can also be that they stopped working because they had lost hope. They had lost the vision of a reconstructed temple where they could worship the Lord.

During this time Zechariah receives eight nightly visions from the Lord.

The third vision is connected with the expectation (or lack of it) that the walls of Jerusalem have to be rebuilt. A young man is on his way to take the necessary measurements and do some planning. But an angel is sent to give him an urgent message: God Himself has a plan for Jerusalem.

The Lord’s plan, his vision, is much greater than that of the young man. So the wall that the young man has in mind will become unnecessary (verse 4). God’s plan for Jerusalem includes the nations (verse 11). The marvel of his plan is that He Himself is going to protect and inhabit Jerusalem. The Lord will be a wall around Jerusalem (verse 5) and He will live in Jerusalem (verse 12).

What an awesome vision and dream for the disheartened citizens of Jerusalem!  This would surely have helped them to recover their lost vision.  This surely motivated them to continue building the temple.

When the AIDS pandemic becomes so overwhelming to people or communities or organisations that it robs us of our vision, the obvious result is that we become discouraged. Disheartened people cannot continue working, making the right choices and acting responsibly.

That is why we must pray continuously that the Lord will create and keep alive a vision, a dream so that we don’t lose hope and give up the struggle. God’s plans are bigger and more wonderful than what we can imagine (compare Ephesians 3:20). So we may pray and dream and work that the tide of the AIDS pandemic will turn.