The Joy of the Lord is Our Strength

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH

"And do not be grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold." Nehemiah 8:10b (The Amplified Bible)

Nehemiah is one of my heroes. He gives me encouragement to keep on keeping on. Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king, is given the monumental task of rebuilding the walls that have been broken down and destroyed.

He is a gifted leader and motivator and is able to rally the troops, partnering people together to accomplish a feat that many of his critics thought nigh near to impossible. Despite the criticism and accusations from the "peanut gallery," Nehemiah forges ahead and in 52 days the wall is rebuilt.

At the completion of the wall, Nehemiah gathers the people together to celebrate and worship their great God. Ezra the scribe is asked to bring the Book of the Law of Moses and to read it to the people. Not get this: he read from morning till noon while the people were standing! (Wow can you see that happening in church today! Yikes!)

In the middle of the celebration Ezra declares: "And do not be grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!" Nehemiah 8:10b. Why did he make this statement at the end of this amazing adventure?

I have discovered that after some of the greatest times of victory and accomplishment, some of us feel the let down of the weeks and months of ministry, and then comes the crash. I have found in my life that after a week or so, and sometimes more, of intense ministry and seeing God work in amazing ways, days after comes the emotional crash. The adrenaline surge that has sustained us during the glory days wanes, and down you go. Instead of rejoicing in the victory and all the good things that God has done, despair and depression seem to raise their ugly head pulling us down into the pit of self-pity.

I was there yesterday. After several weeks of intensity, I was just plain pooped. I found myself grumbling, grouchy and ungrateful. I found myself in the middle of a big pity party. I looked at the week ahead of me and all that I need to accomplish, and I was overwhelmed and discouraged. And then during the night, the Holy Spirit reminded me - "Welte, the joy of the Lord is your strength." Wow!

So by God's grace, today starts a new day. The same pile is looming in front of me. My day off seems weeks away (it's coming Friday and Saturday ...) but I face the week with a new perspective: the joy of the Lord is my strength! And when I am weak, Paul reminds me that this is when HE shows up - His strength is made perfect in my weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

How about you, guy? Are you needing this reminder? "And do not be grieved or depressed - for the joy of the Lord is your strength!" - Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK.

God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 2; Ezekiel 42-44; 1 John 1

Think About This: God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination. Augustine