God Can Sovereignly Steer People To Fulfill His Plan.

Ezra chapter 1 shows us that God can successfully motivate people to fulfill His will. It was the Lord who motivated the Gentile king Cyrus to release the Jews back to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1). It was also the Lord who motivated the Jewish heads-of-household, and the priests and Levites, to rally to the plan (1:5). God did all this to fulfill the prophecy of Jeremiah, so that it met the 70-year time frame Jeremiah predicted.

There's no word given about how God did this. Did Cyrus have a dream? Did an angel appear to him? Did he think it was a smart political move? Maybe he thought the God of the Jews was real and had power, and Cyrus wanted to curry favor with Him? The Scripture doesn't say. It simply says the Lord successfully "stirred" Cyrus and the others to fulfill His word, without describing how.

This is encouraging for us regarding faith and prayer. It means no one, including non-believers, is beyond the influence of the Lord. It doesn't mean everyone is a robot. But the Lord directly, individually intervenes at key points in time, to successfully steer people in directions that fulfill His greater plan. They might not even know He's doing it.

Don't let other the reality of people's wills dampen your faith. The Lord always has ways to get what He wants.