October 9

Nehemiah 4:8
They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it.

Nehemiah 4:14
"Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes."

Nehemiah 6:15-16
So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

The Israelites had the difficult task of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. It was made worse because of the opposition they faced. Their enemies were angry at their efforts and constantly taunted them and threatened them with violence. The workers started to become discouraged. Building the wall was demanding by itself. But they also had to endure attacks from their enemy. They started to lose their strength. Then Nehemiah reminded them of their great and awesome God. He was still there with them and He would fight this battle for them. Fast forward to the end of the 52 days, and we see that the wall is complete and their enemies have given up because they know that they can't fight against God!

Have you ever noticed that when you are trying to do God's work that you often face opposition? We have an enemy, just like Nehemiah did, and he is trying to stop us from obeying God. How do we fight against such attacks? Just like Nehemiah did: He reminded himself and all the people that God was on their side and He would fight (and win!) this battle for them.

In a couple of weeks, I'll be going to the women's retreat in Spofford. It will be my ninth time going. Every year, I am asked to prepare the music for the weekend and I am honored to do it. I love music and I love that I can use it to honor and bring glory to God. But every year, a couple of weeks before the retreat I start to feel attacked. It's not an outward threat of violence, like Nehemiah faced. It's an inner attack. It's a voice telling me that I'm not good enough, that what I'm doing doesn't really matter, that I will not be prepared, that I will not do a good job, that I will not make a difference. With my own strength, I am helpless against these attacks. They will reduce me to a weak, fearful, useless person, which is exactly what my enemy wants. The only hope I have is to call on the name of my God for help and strength. With His power, my enemy is exposed for what he is: a liar. Once I realize that these thoughts are nothing but lies, only then can I continue doing the work that God called me to do. He is my defense, He is my strength, and He is the truth.

I must admit that I fall for Satan's tricks more often than I should. I know that there is only one escape and at times I am slow to remember, causing grief that I don't need to experience. My prayer is that we will all be quick to remember what to do when the enemy is working against us.

Romans 8:31
What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?