This morning the Lord woke me up, saying that “sometimes men limit me in what I would say to them because they require that I make them feel good.” He went on to talk about the problems of Mankind, and how willing He is to talk to them about solutions to those problems. He often sends His counsel in the form of prophecy, yet some expect the word of prophecy to take the sting of problems out of their life. And herein lies the problem; wisdom and counsel from God is not based on how it will make us feel, but on accomplishing victory and establishing God’s kingdom in our lives.
The word of God will point out the problem, and bring the solution. I remember reading about Nehemiah and the work he led the Jews to do, rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem. The destruction of the wall had become a problem of great proportion for it let the enemies of God’s people gain access to their lives. The Lord sent Nehemiah to rebuild the walls. His first words to the people pointed out their problem, and the solution. “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” (Neh 2:17). The people had a lot of hard work in front of them! If they had expected God’s word to bring instant relief from their enemies, they would not have felt encouraged by God’s word. The encouraging, edification, and strengthening of prophecy (1 Cor 14:3) is not found in a feeling, but is the result of a life lived by doing what the Lord has sent His word to accomplish. In this instance, it was building a wall of protection to keep their enemies out.
As we implement God’s word in our lives, there comes discouragement from the very enemy we seek to be protected from. If we look at Nehemiah’s work with the Jews we see that the enemy came in the form of Sanballat, who accused the work of God as being born of rebellion. He disheartened God’s people and said “Can you bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble – burned as they are?” (Neh 4:2). The stones from the wall around Jerusalem had been torn down and burned because God had taken His protection away from them due to their past sin. What Sanballat was saying was “Can you expect to have God’s protection (the wall restored) when you have sinned so much?” Our enemy likes to jab us with reminders of our past sins and failures. We become disheartened if we believe that there is no forgiveness for our past sins, and no restoration that will bring us to future victory. It becomes a temptation to accept the rubble as a reason to exclude ourselves from the very work that would bring us relief from our enemy, and it is the enemy himself that offers relief from harassing us if only we stop doing the work for which God’s word was sent.
God’s word is sent to bring us deliverance from our enemy, and restoration to God. Nehemiah strengthened the Jews who had become disheartened, and the work on the wall resumed. Each time the enemy accused and harassed them, Nehemiah encouraged and strengthened them. He had the workers guard the wall and the guards work. Nehemiah involved everyone in the work until it was finally completed after 52 days. The labor required to bring restoration by rebuilding the wall was intense, and the accusations from the enemy were relentless. But Nehemiah would not waver. His heart was set on accomplishing God’s plan, and he was given wisdom on how to strengthen those who were physically, mentally, and emotionally weary.
In reading the book of Nehemiah we find that the protection of the wall around Jerusalem began a restoration process in the people. God’s kingdom was re-established amongst them as Nehemiah continued ministering God’s word to them. Not only did the enemies of God’s people leave them alone, but they actually became afraid of them, for they knew that the work had been done with the help of God (Neh 6:16). The encouragement of God’s words to His people was a lasting one, and could not be defeated by their enemy. The edification of seeing God counsel and co-labor with them could not be erased. The strength accomplished by enduring through 52 days of labor and accusations, weariness and fear, became a strong resolution to serve God with all their hearts. This is the fruit of the Word of God; encouragement, edification and strength. For the rebuilders of the wall it was not a good feeling they had when Nehemiah came to speak to them. It was the fruit of accomplishing the counsel God sent to them. Let us open our hearts to God’s word for us afresh, for He is ever seeking to help us with the problems of our lives and by His word will bring us to victory. Amen.
