Like Nehemiah--keep building!

                             
        I've been reading through the Old Testament book of Nehemiah the last few weeks in preparation for a Bible study this fall.  Wow, what a book for our times.  I'm reminded once again how incredibly timeless and perfectly relevant God's Word is.  The Bible speaks to us at every age and stage of our lives, and it's as fresh, important, and powerful today as the moment God spoke His words into existence.
        Nehemiah faced an impossible task--rebuilding the broken-down walls of Jerusalem.  His people suffering in exile.  Their capital city a ruined shell.  I won't go into the remarkable story right now, but the point that kept coming back to me was that Nehemiah could have focused on the enormity of the task, the inadequacy of the people, the relentlessness of the opposition...and despaired.  Or he could have turned away in indifference and returned to his comfortable life in the palace as the king's cupbearer.   Or he surely could have easily fallen prey to doubt, worry, frustration, fear.
        But he didn't.  You know why?  Because Nehemiah fixed his eyes upon the size and power of his Almighty God rather than the size of his problem.  Nehemiah was focused on all the myriad resources he possessed in His Lord rather than obsessing over what he lacked or over his weaknesses.
       Do we do that?
       Do we recognize the enormity of all that we have--and who we are--in Christ or are we simply preoccupied with the ways we fall short, what we can't do, or how we can't change?  Are we focused on ourselves and our resources...or our Savior and Redeemer?
      Ouch.  I needed that reminder, because all too often my focus is on my little rather than Jesus' limitless.        
       On my itsy-bitsy abilities rather than Jesus' infinite and awesome ability.
       On myself rather than my Savior.  Oh forgive me, Father.
       We tend to forget, don't we, that He is able.  Our Lord "is able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think, according to the power at work within us..." (Eph.3:20)
        Yes, it's us working...but it's HIM supplying all the power, all the ability, all the resources.  He does what we cannot do...but He will not do what we must and should do.  It's us...but it's Him.
        Here's how Colossians puts it: "For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me." (1:29)  We toil, we struggle...but with His energy, His power that He works within us.
        Paul David Tripp says that "You and I have no natural abilities to rise and do what God calls us to do, [Amen!] but He refuses to leave us to our resources.  He is not so unwise, unkind, or unfaithful as to ever call us to a task without enabling us to do it...You see, what 2 Peter 1:3 says is really true: we have been given everything we need for life and godliness.  The God who calls us to a radical new way of living meets us with radical empowering grace.  Have courage.  Be active.  Your Savior really is your strength."
       So today, if you're facing an impossible task--whether it's to love the unlovable, forgive the unforgivable, do the undoable, hope when it feels hopeless, or simply overcome inertia and exhaustion and do whatever that next thing God's called you to do--remember you're not on your own.  It's not just you doing the best you can.  It's not just you and your paltry little resources and abilities.  Nope, it's Almighty God working beside, outside, and inside you.
       It's you taking that baby step...but it's really Him carrying you all the way home.
       It's you toiling...but it's Him energizing, empowering, and working.
       We are not alone...not ever.  And one plus God is always an overwhelming majority.
       So like Nehemiah...don't quit.  Don't stop.  Keep focusing on the Savior, keep building, and trust that the Almighty will do supernatural.  
       To God be the glory.