Carry Your Sword

Starting my Bible reading this morning I was not excited. I’m reading through the Bible and Nehemiah was my reading today. I knew it was mainly Hebrew history and I needed some real meat. I needed Yahweh to speak to me from His Word today. I needed Him to give me something to build my strength for this next part of my journey. I closed my eyes and asked Him to show me something in what I was about to read.

Ask and you shall receive. The entire fourth book of Nehemiah is pure gold and I’d like to share with you some of what I learned this morning.

In verse 4 Nehemiah writes, “Hear, O Yahweh, for we have become despised.” How many of us can relate to that? How many of us in our jobs, or even in our own homes, are not respected, not heard, or even despised? Maybe you have an idea for a project at work, but no one will listen. Maybe your teenager is being disrespectful. Maybe you have someone in your life continually causing misery. Maybe you’re just frustrated with how your life is going, or not going.

Being despised didn’t stop Nehemiah. He was charged with rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and even though some pretty powerful leaders were against him, who caused him continually aggravation, and even put him and his workers in danger, he continued on doing the job he was tasked to do. He relied on Yahweh for protection.

Someone told my husband that self-publishing my book was going to be really hard, almost impossible, and that marketing it would be even harder and perhaps God was telling us not to do it. They continued saying that something being hard was God’s way of telling us he didn’t want us to do that thing. When my husband told me about the conversation I simply replied, “I guess that person hasn’t read the Bible, because pretty much every story of glory is a story of overcoming huge, overwhelming obstacles.”

Obstacles, whether they are from circumstances or people, are there for one reason. Because most of us are not able to do the thing, or deal with the people, on our own. We need Yahweh’s Spirit. His strength. His forgiveness. His patience. His protection. His wisdom. Him. The obstacles are there to show us we need Him in all that we do. And then when all is said and done, to give Him the glory for getting us through.

In chapter 4 verse 17 of Nehemiah I read, “working with one hand in the work, and with the other holding a sword.”

Let that sink in a moment. It could also read, “doing what I told you to do and stay in My Word at all times.”  Yeah.

Ephesians tell us in Ephesians 6:17, “and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of Yahweh.” The Sword is the Word – the Bible.

So those are our marching orders. Do the thing we’re supposed to be doing and be immersed in His Word while we are doing it. He will get us through and it will be for His glory, not ours.

More of YOU, Yahweh! Less of me.  I trust You to get me through the things I don’t understand, the hard things, and the obstacles in my path. Because I am not able on my own. I am only able with You!

Simply my opinion,

Kathe