REBUILD THE WALLS
Does it seem that at times your life is a heap of rubble? What else could possibly go wrong? Then out of the blue something else does. The car breaks down, just when you have to have a tooth worked on. There’s a flat tire on the lawnmower and you just about give up, when a friend stops by and takes you to lunch. You don’t feel so alone, and it gives you a chance to regroup. Stop and take a moment to get out your journal and write down what a blessing that friend is and all the other blessings you have in life.
The Bible says God has given us everything we need to be successful and happy. What are we doing with the things he has given us? Are we that friend someone turns to and lifts their spirits when they are down? In the book of Jeremiah chapter 2 God puts a burden on Nehemiah’s heart because his homeland Jerusalem, lies in ruins. The king noticed Jeremiahs depression and ask what he could do to help. Jeremiah told King Artaxerxes, to give him leave to go to Jerusalem and if he would, grant him the timbers needed from his provinces, so he could go and see about rebuilding the walls.
The King granted his request and Nehemiah goes with the king’s blessing. The task is overwhelming and impossible by himself, but with the help of the few citizens who were left, stone by stone they rebuilt the walls and the gates. There were many who did not want to see the walls of the city rebuilt, and made obstacles the people had to overcome to accomplish their task. With the help of God and each other standing against those who would try to tear it all down again, what seemed an impossibility became a reality. One person could not do it alone but by the grace of God, together they accomplished the impossible.
I understand you think there is no hope for your life. No one cares, or even know you exist. They don’t know the suffering you’re going through right now with your health issue, or what your child or loved one is going through. It feels as though God has turned his back on you. But the truth of the matter is he never moves from your side, the other ones that put a distance between God and ourselves. Part of that distances caused from lack of understanding why God would allow this pain in your life. The truth of the matter is God does not cause bad things to happen, but he gives us grace and his strength to get through it. Because of the sin in the garden of Eden, Satan roams the earth looking for people to destroy. How, you ask are we supposed to stand up against the devil?
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5 That is God’s promise to us.
What more could you possibly need, except the faith that the God which cannot lie, will keep this promise, and all the other promises in the Bible.
Like the promise of Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
So don’t ever give up. There was always help in prayer, in the form of a friend, and the prayers that will lift you up by your church family. Remember God has given you everything you need to make your life beautiful and fulfilling no matter what comes your way.
As parents one of our jobs is to teach our children how to handle disappointments in their life. To make sure they don’t become bitter and hateful against others who have what they want. As always we must lead by example, staying in the Word of God and teaching it to our children, that they may be well-equipped for what life hands them.
We as writers have a responsibility to offer hope and encouragement in our writing. There are many who flood the market with self help literature, who leave out the most important element of help, which is God. Don’t be one of those authors.
Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Luke 11:9 – “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
Matthew 21:22 – “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Matthew 7:7 – “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
John 15:7 – “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”
John 14:13-14 – “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”
Deuteronomy 4:31: “(For the Lord thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.”
Joshua 1:5: “He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
Matthew 21:22 – “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”