Center of God's Will
Being in the center of God's will is the safest place to be. I believe it. But it's not always easy. For Nehemiah?
"Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.
So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work” (Nehemiah 4 ESV)
For Paul?
"...because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me" (1 Corinthians 16:9 NIV)
Jeremiah who was thrown in a cistern to die because he spoke words of the Living Water to those who built thier own cracked cisterns? (cf. Jer. 2:13, 18; 17:13).
Examples can go on. No, its not alwasy the easiest place to be. But the best. He is there. So if things are rough, we can't assume we are out of God's will. Satan will try to make us doubt that. He will also try to attack us, because he doesn't want us there. Yet, God is stronger. Greater. Mightier. More lovely. More caring. He is love. And we are safe with our faithful God who gives us the strength to persevere each and every day, no matter how hard.
"Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God" (2 Corinthians 3:4).
"Now when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry and greatly enraged, and he jeered at the Jews. And he said in the presence of his brothers and of the army of Samaria, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish up in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, and burned ones at that?” Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, “Yes, what they are building—if a fox goes up on it he will break down their stone wall!” Hear, O our God, for we are despised. Turn back their taunt on their own heads and give them up to be plundered in a land where they are captives. Do not cover their guilt, and let not their sin be blotted out from your sight, for they have provoked you to anger in the presence of the builders.
So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry. And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.” And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work” (Nehemiah 4 ESV)
For Paul?
"...because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me" (1 Corinthians 16:9 NIV)
Jeremiah who was thrown in a cistern to die because he spoke words of the Living Water to those who built thier own cracked cisterns? (cf. Jer. 2:13, 18; 17:13).
Examples can go on. No, its not alwasy the easiest place to be. But the best. He is there. So if things are rough, we can't assume we are out of God's will. Satan will try to make us doubt that. He will also try to attack us, because he doesn't want us there. Yet, God is stronger. Greater. Mightier. More lovely. More caring. He is love. And we are safe with our faithful God who gives us the strength to persevere each and every day, no matter how hard.
"Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God" (2 Corinthians 3:4).
Comments
Post a Comment