Ezra 2:27 "The men of Michmas, one hundred and twenty-two." 

Sometimes, like today, I get a verse that I am at a loss initially to do anything with! When I read this, I thought "What on earth am I supposed to say about the men of Michmas numbering one hundred and twenty-two?" But I am letting the Holy Spirit guide me.

My first thought is that I just had Ezra a few days ago. When I get the same book several times in a row, I try to look for a bigger message that God might be giving me. The book of Ezra is part of the rebuilding narrative - the exile is ending and the Jews are returning to the Promised Land. They will eventually deal with all the difficulties their return brings, and rebuild the temple. Perhaps God is telling me to be ready for this period of return and rebuilding in the Church.

In Ezra, the rebuilding period came about because God stirred the spirit of King Cyrus of Persia, and Cyrus issued a proclamation for the Jews to return and rebuild with his sponsorship. (Ezra 1:1-4). We never know when God will stir the hearts and spirits of others. He will do so in the time is right, and we must be ready when he does. When Cyrus issued the proclamation, the heads of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, "rose up", having also been stirred by God, and were ready to return at once. (Ezra 1:5). These one hundred twenty-two men of Michmas were among them.

Michmas was a small town near Jerusalem. Its name means "concealed place". Of the forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty men who returned in this first wave (Ezra 2:64), only one hundred twenty-two came from this small, hidden town, yet they were essential, their spirits were stirred by God just as those from Jerusalem were.

I often feel small and hidden as this spiritual battle rages. I do the small things I can, but think that they are not enough, and I wish I could contribute more to the cause. But it is each person, doing the small or big things he or she is stirred by the Spirit to do, that will see us through this battle. I think today God is telling us to be ready to return. His Providence will work in a time and a way we do not expect, but if we have been faithful in the small, hidden things He is asking us to do, we will be ready to help when all are called to return.