Tales of the Restoration: Weakness

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even the things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1:27, ESV

I have been riveted by pictures of mountains of rubble caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I am saddened by their devastating loss. How will they ever rebuild? How will they even clear so much rubble? Sometimes life feels like that. The destruction is massive and we are not up to the task.

Our enemy, ever an opportunist, uses this discouragement. When Nehemiah began leading a massive rebuilding effort with inadequate resources and inexperienced builders, his enemies attacked with words instead of with weapons. "What are those feeble Jews doing?"

God is creative. Satan isn't. He is still using the same tactics thousands of years later. As soon as we begin rebuilding after a loss he begins attacking confidence. "What dd you think you're doing? You aren't strong enough, physically, emotionally, spiritually, relationally...to rebuild this huge mess."

If the enemy successfully shifts our focus to our own feebleness, he wins, because he is right. We are not strong enough to rebuild desolated lives.

The good news is, we are not the foremen of our own restoration and we are not building alone. I love Nehemiah's phrase "The good hand of my God was upon me". That changes everything. If the restoration project is our own, it is doomed to failure. If it is God's, the end product may look different than our blueprint, but it won't fail.

When the enemy paused to take a breath in the midst of hurling insults, Nehemiah resisted the urge to hurl insults back. Instead, like a bullied younger brother he turned to someone much stronger. He hid behind him begging, "Beat them up for me, God". It was true Nehemiah and his Jews were feeble. But God was not.

We are feeble. God is not.

If the enemy is whispering discouragement to you, saying you are too weak, turn to the good hand of your God. He has his hand on you. Truly.

Until next time,
Blessings,
Beth

For background information about Nehemiah's story, see earlier blogs entitled Tales of the Restoration.