Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10
Nehemiah was a faithful servant of the Lord who was very acquainted with opposition and difficulties. He served as the cupbearer to the king of Persia at a time when Israel was ruled by people he served. It was his job to taste the wine to be sure it was not poisoned in an assassination attempt on the king’s life. He heard a very troubling report regarding the returned exiles who went back to Jerusalem and were facing many problems. He then took a huge risk to ask the king to be able to go back to his homeland to help rebuild what was destroyed due to the unfaithfulness of Israel. After gaining favor from the king, he traveled 800 to 900 miles to get to Jerusalem, which likely took well over a month of arduous conditions. Once he arrived in Jerusalem to his kinsman, he faced attacks from the enemy people around the city as well as deception and unfaithfulness from his own people as he attempted to rebuild the city walls and restore some dignity to the nation. The very reason for the desperate situation of the Jews was their own guilt before God and the certain judgment they faced for their choices. Nehemiah pressed through all of these issues to lead the people back to a proper relationship of faith with the Living God. You would certainly think that the people of Israel would be full of joy and gladness, but when the Law of God was read to them by Ezra in Nehemiah 8, the people realized all they had brought upon themselves and wept in sadness. It was at this point, where the people were actually repenting and accepting their own consequences, that Nehemiah states that this was a day to rejoice as God was restoring them and it is the joy in God and from God that gives the necessary strength to carry on each day and to live righteously. There is absolutely a time and need to be sorrowful over sin and consequences thereof, but we cannot live in them continually. When we have been humbled and suffered, we still need to look to the Living God and find joy in His goodness and let that fill our soul as we serve Him. Jesus has paid the price for all our sins, not just some of them, and we need to find joy in His provision of salvation and redemption in this age of grace we are now in. Yes, we must be sorrowful when we offend our Lord and others, but once we repent, we must keep our eyes on Jesus and follow Him and let Him bring joy into our soul to strengthen us and help us do better going forward. My friends, life is so very brief and our time to serve our Savior is like a vapor that soon disappears. We must rely only on the Spirit of Christ to empower us to live by the Word of God with joy and gladness. Surrender all to the One who died and rose again to give you life, and then live it to the fullest for Him today. Blessings!
Love in Christ,
Pastor Gary Houdek