Nehemiah and his fellow-builders
face determined opposition from their enemies: “What they are building -
if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of
stones!” (Nehemiah 4:3). When the enemies “heard that the repairs to
Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed,
they were very angry. They all plotted together against Jerusalem and
stir up trouble against it” (Nehemiah 4:7-8). What did God’s people do
when they were faced with this opposition? - “We prayed to our God and
posted a guard day and night to meet this threat” (Nehemiah 4:10). They
were watching out for their enemies - and they were looking to the Lord.
Nehemiah urged the workers to keep looking to the Lord: “Remember how
great and awe-inspiring the Lord is ... Our God will fight for us!”
(Nehemiah 4:14,20). This is what we must do. We must keep our eyes on
the Lord. He is the great God. He is a great help to His people in their
many times of testing.
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).
Comments
Post a Comment