I sipped on my morning coffee and clicked the \u201crefresh\u201d button on my chrome browser to see if anything changed in our bank account. I hoped a check we waited for came through before the mortgage payment was processed. I never knew following God\u2019s lead into pastoral ministry would demand so much of our mind, body, and souls\u2014and that we would persevere through years of financial strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Nehemiah and his workers, following God in ministry\u2014inside and outside the church\u2014can exhaust us in ways we never imagined. With muscles aching from lifting stones and eyes constantly strained from scanning the horizon for threats (Nehemiah 4:17), following God\u2019s lead in our vocation or volunteer work can be more challenging than we ever expected. In the middle of our weariness, Nehemiah\u2019s story offers us a word of encouragement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The walls of Jerusalem were toppled and the gates burned. When Nehemiah heard about it, he crumbled in grief (Nehemiah 1:4). But instead of merely mourning, he fasted and sought the Lord (vv.4\u201311) and then set himself up to do something about it; he stepped out to restore the walls of the city where God\u2019s glory had dwelt (Nehemiah 2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And God blessed Nehemiah\u2014in ways we think one should be blessed when doing God\u2019s work. God provided favor with the king (Nehemiah 2:1\u20136), resources to build the wall (vv.7\u20139), and people of the city to help him build it (vv.16\u201320).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But God did not provide peace on all sides (v.19), the absence of deadly threats (Nehemiah 3), enduring human strength (Nehemiah 4:10), or consistent provision (Nehemiah 5). In American Christianity, we might wonder, \u201cIf God was blessing him, then he wouldn\u2019t have so many struggles, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doing God\u2019s work does not mean a worry free, coasting life. We see this truth from the Apostle Paul too. He endured many opposing threats and stood his ground but not by his strength. Paul wrote, \u201cBut the Lord stood with me and strengthened me\u201d (2Timothy 4:17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God blessed Nehemiah with His strength as well. When he faced a barrage of false accusations, when he knew his opposers were trying to wear him and his men down so that they would be too weak to work, Nehemiah prayed, \u201cBut now, my God, strengthen my hands\u201d (Nehemiah 6:9).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God gave Nehemiah what he asked. God proved to be Nehemiah\u2019s mighty Creator and gentle Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11)\u2014the One powerful enough to sustain the universe, who was also tender enough to carry Nehemiah when he was weary (vv.28\u201331).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through God\u2019s strength, the wall was completed and all of Nehemiah\u2019s opponents replaced their scoffing with fear, \u201cfor they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God\u201d (Nehemiah 6:19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe part of why we endure trials of various kinds as we serve the Lord is so others can see God\u2019s glory, just like God\u2019s enemies saw His glory through Nehemiah\u2019s endurance. Maybe when we depend on God\u2019s provision in our need, we glorify Him best to a lost world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I sipped on my morning coffee and clicked the \u201crefresh\u201d button on my chrome browser to see if anything changed in our bank account. I hoped a check we waited for came through before the mortgage payment was processed. I never knew following God\u2019s lead into pastoral ministry would demand so much of our mind, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":72540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nehemiah25"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[72617],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"THE WALL COMPLETED<\/b>
\r\nby Seana Scott<\/i>
\r\n
I sipped on my morning coffee and clicked the \u201crefresh\u201d button on my chrome browser to see if anything changed in our bank account. I hoped a check we waited for came through before the mortgage payment was processed. I never knew following God\u2019s lead into pastoral ministry would demand so much of our mind, body, and souls\u2014and that we would persevere through years of financial strain.<\/p>
\r\n
Like Nehemiah and his workers, following God in ministry\u2014inside and outside the church\u2014can exhaust us in ways we never imagined. With muscles aching from lifting stones and eyes constantly strained from scanning the horizon for threats (Nehemiah 4:17), following God\u2019s lead in our vocation or volunteer work can be more challenging than we ever expected. In the middle of our weariness, Nehemiah\u2019s story offers us a word of encouragement.<\/p>
\r\n
The walls of Jerusalem were toppled and the gates burned. When Nehemiah heard about it, he crumbled in grief (Nehemiah 1:4). But instead of merely mourning, he fasted and sought the Lord (vv.4\u201311) and then set himself up to do something about it; he stepped out to restore the walls of the city where God\u2019s glory had dwelt (Nehemiah 2).<\/p>
\r\n
And God blessed Nehemiah\u2014in ways we think one should be blessed when doing God\u2019s work. God provided favor with the king (Nehemiah 2:1\u20136), resources to build the wall (vv.7\u20139), and people of the city to help him build it (vv.16\u201320).<\/p>
\r\n
But God did not provide peace on all sides (v.19), the absence of deadly threats (Nehemiah 3), enduring human strength (Nehemiah 4:10), or consistent provision (Nehemiah 5). In American Christianity, we might wonder, \u201cIf God was blessing him, then he wouldn\u2019t have so many struggles, right?\u201d<\/p>
\r\n
Wrong.<\/p>
\r\n
Doing God\u2019s work does not mean a worry free, coasting life. We see this truth from the Apostle Paul too. He endured many opposing threats and stood his ground but not by his strength. Paul wrote, \u201cBut the Lord stood with me and strengthened me\u201d (2Timothy 4:17).<\/p>
\r\n
God blessed Nehemiah with His strength as well. When he faced a barrage of false accusations, when he knew his opposers were trying to wear him and his men down so that they would be too weak to work, Nehemiah prayed, \u201cBut now, my God, strengthen my hands\u201d (Nehemiah 6:9).<\/p>
\r\n
God gave Nehemiah what he asked. God proved to be Nehemiah\u2019s mighty Creator and gentle Shepherd (Isaiah 40:11)\u2014the One powerful enough to sustain the universe, who was also tender enough to carry Nehemiah when he was weary (vv.28\u201331).<\/p>
\r\n
Through God\u2019s strength, the wall was completed and all of Nehemiah\u2019s opponents replaced their scoffing with fear, \u201cfor they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God\u201d (Nehemiah 6:19).<\/p>
\r\n
Maybe part of why we endure trials of various kinds as we serve the Lord is so others can see God\u2019s glory, just like God\u2019s enemies saw His glory through Nehemiah\u2019s endurance. Maybe when we depend on God\u2019s provision in our need, we glorify Him best to a lost world.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"9","scripture":"Nehemiah 6:1-19, Isaiah 40:9-11, Isaiah 40:28-31, 2 Timothy 4:17-18","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}