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Daily Devotion: Nehemiah 2:17-18

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Nehemiah 2:17-18    "Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.  (18)  Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work."

Nehemiah had been back in Jerusalem for three days when he went out at night to observe the state of the city.  In my mind, I am thinking it is even worse than he had pictured. Yes, the walls were broken down and the gates were burned; but then when he went to look at the fountain gate and the king's pool, there was no place for his horse to walk. Rubble was everywhere.  "Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned." (Nehemiah 2:15)  We see three words in this verse of Scripture that can point us in two different directions... "and turned back".  Those words could indicate the absolute discouragement to the point that Nehemiah might have "turned back" to stop the work before it even began.

Have you ever started a project and then determined it was too big for you? Have you ever tried to break a habit that was doing harm to you, only to turn back and take it up again? Have you ever been in a place where your life seemed to be so messed up that all you could see was rubble? There was so much rubble that you felt like you couldn't even breathe? May I say that God will always make a way if we seek His help in our lives.  Nehemiah did not turn back in discouragement; rather, he turned to those that had been provided to help him. But more importantly than that, Nehemiah remembered "the hand of my God which was good upon me."  He went back to the men who were with him and encouraged them to stay the course in that which they had returned to accomplish. "Let us rise up and build."

There are many things in life that will discourage us if we let our hearts and minds focus on the problem, or the struggle, instead of looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. Circumstances can discourage us. Other people might even discourage us. Remember Sanballat and Tobiah? We will be seeing a lot of them through the book. They are constant in trying to discourage and distract. Nehemiah will stay focused and we must stay focused also on the love, grace, mercy, and power of our God to help us in every situation.


Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
by Helen H. Lemmel

O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace

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