Discouragement surrounds us. Every day, we are bombarded with an endless barrage of reasons to give up on God, to give up on our good work for him, to give up on our character and constant growth, and to give up even on life itself sometimes. The devil is active and powerful and terrifyingly crafty.
What do we do when hope seems scarce? Is the answer just to keep pressing on? To fight every discouragement with all the strength we have? That’s exhausting, and it certainly won’t last long. But Nehemiah has a different answer: remember the Lord. In front of Nehemiah was the impossible task of rallying a stagnant, worn out nation to begin rebuilding the walls of the destroyed city of Jerusalem and to embrace radical reforms from carelessness back to the old pursuit of righteousness. And on top of that, enemies emerged that planted seeds of evil, fought to keep the work from happening, and even threatened to kill! Life was hard. But Nehemiah persevered and persevered some more, and encouraged all of Israel to do the same, with one simple piece of advice: remember the Lord.
How long has it been since the glory of the Lord truly astounded you? The Lord is great and awesome and mighty; he’s got the whole world in his hands, and he powerfully works all things together for good for those called according to his purpose! We do not fight on our own strength, but God’s; and God’s strength is great enough to overcome all trials and tribulations and to bring us safely through all the discouragement we may face.
Nehemiah constantly prays that God would remember his good work. Let us be reminded that God does remember us, and his good hand is upon us; and let us in turn remember him. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good, and because of that we have a hope that will never be quenched. So keep up the fight. As brutal attacks come your way from every direction, do not despair, and do not be afraid. Remember the Lord. Remember you have his strength, and fight on to do good work according to his purpose and bring glory to his name.
