* Auntie Anne said, “God gave me a pretzel, and God gave me a platform.”

* Pretzel first / Platform second.

* If God gives you a platform, it’s for a purpose - to shine the light away from yourself and onto Him.

* In today’s “influencer” world, people often seek to be discovered before they’re developed.

* This turns into “platform lust” where they’re drunk with becoming “insta-famous.”

* At that point, Likes become more important than Lives.

* We should seek to develop ourselves and let God handle the discovery.

* Backstory - the wall had been completed; the job was done. Now what would they do?

* The spiritual leader of the day (Ezra) showed up to read from God’s Word.

* How would he deliver the message?

* Vs 4a - he stood on a platform so his voice could be heard!

* We don’t need to run from social media. We need to embrace it in the proper time.

* Notice:

* Ezra didn’t build his own platform - it was built by those who wanted him elevated.

* He didn’t stand on it until the time was right - he was too busy encouraging and helping those with the work.

* ** There’s a time to build and a time to stand on the platform that came as a result of what you built (don’t mix the two).

* Vs 4b - he didn’t stand alone - he was surrounded by those who knew him well.

* Vs 5 - the platform served a purpose (to get God’s message to the people).

* Vs 6 - he used the platform to point people to God.

* Vs 9-12 - he showed them what to do (like the Men of Issachar who “understood the times and knew what Israel should do”).