The
book of Nehemiah begins with distressing news - “The wall of Jerusalem
has been broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire”
(Nehemiah 1:3). Nehemiah takes this situation to the Lord in prayer
(Nehemiah 1:4-11). With the help of God, the work of rebuilding begins.
This work was pleasing to the Lord (Nehemiah 2:18). This work would not
be easy. There was opposition: They “mocked and ridiculed us, ‘What is
this you are doing?’” (Nehemiah 2;19). The opponents would not succeed.
Why? - “The God of heaven” would give “success” to His people (Nehemiah
2:20). God’s work is done by many people, working together. Nehemiah 3
gives us a list of all the people who played their part in the
rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls.
We read about Elijah in his high-points of strength - the triumph over the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:36-39) - and his low-points of weakness - he is ready to give up: “I’ve had enough now, Lord” (1 Kings 19:4). How did Elijah get into such a mess? He forgot this: “The Lord’s power was on Elijah” (1 Kings 18:46). In all life’s ups and downs, we must hold on to this: The Lord has sent His Spirit of power to live in us (2 Timothy 1:7). How are we to live in the power of the Spirit? We need to feed on the Word of God and drink in the Word of God (1 Kings 17:4). We need to pray that the Lord will send His showers of blessing (1 Kings 17:14). We are to live our life “according to the Word of the Lord” (1 Kings 17:16). For our life of faith to be strong in the Lord, we need to listen attentively to the preaching of God’s Word (1 Kings 17:24).
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