Is trusting God opposed to living by facts? In other words, should we always be practical Christians who are responsible and cautious, not prone to take risks, always sniffing out facts and figures and possibilities to do an analysis to determine success or failure before we move forward in faith? Or should we be bold, daring and entrepreneurial in our faith moving forward trusting God no matter what the facts and risks reveal? Or do we do both, live in the tension between trusting in God and the reality of facts?

In Ezra 8, Ezra finds himself stuck between faith and facts. He was leading a caravan of around 5000 men, women and children on a journey about 1000 miles to Jerusalem carrying, in today’s value, over $223 million worth of gold and silver. He knew that the long journey would be filled with evil thieves and gangs wanting to rob them of all they had. There were no police, no cell phones, no GPS, and no fast-food stops. Ezra could have asked King Artexerxes for “soldiers and horsemen to protect them against the hand of the enemy and from ambushes” but he did not ask. Ezra had looked at the facts and chose to move forward in faith declaring to the king that the “the hand of our God is for good on all who seek Him, and the power of His wrath is against all who forsake Him.” After making this proclamation to the king, Ezra determined that He needed to completely trust God and His promises, not the kings soldiers, to do otherwise would minimize God’s glory in the work He had called Ezra to accomplish.