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Many of you are waiting on something phenomenal. You have a strong sense that God is going to deliver the mega-load of blessings in your life, and it’s going to make all the struggle, suffering, confusion, and heartache make sense. It’s been a rough road, and you’ve seen some times that you never want to see again. There might be some people that were more than a handful to deal with. Your feelings wouldn’t be the least bit hurt if they were left entirely out of the next chapter of your life. You know that God is the glue that holds everything together, but there have been times when you felt like the threads were unraveling. Heavenly Father always has your back, but you’ve been pressing and running this race like a soldier, and boy could you use a break.
The beautiful truth of Lamentations 3:22-23(NKJV) says, “22 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” This passage reflects an aspect of God’s nature that is tremendously uplifting. Some Christians have been so battered in life and so disappointed by people and circumstances, that they might read these verses and miss the heft of them all together. We know that the goodness of God does not change, that He’s the same today, tomorrow, and forever; but God is always up to something new. He’s always excited to show us a different aspect of His brilliant love.
He doesn’t want us to become so sullied by the rough terrain of life on earth that we lose the vigor of expectation, hope, and excitement. Sadly, this is where many of us are. We have a sense of the blessing God is about to bring, but we’re not yet in full-blown hope of it. This is because we’re allowing life to drain the liveliness that is produced through the Holy Spirit from a fully anchored hope in Christ. God’s plan is to usher in newness, but He can’t get us to look up, because we’re still so busy looking back. We want something good to happen in our lives so bad, but we’re afraid to really get our hopes up. Some of us don’t remember what this kind of hope even feels like any more. We gave up on it a long time ago.
To help rekindle the vigor of a lively expectation, let’s look at Nehemiah. He was a cup-bearer to Artaxerxes, King of Persia. His position was a high-ranking office in the king’s court, so it is quite natural to assume he had the king’s ear and good favor. After learning that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down, Nehemiah asked the king for permission to go back to Judah to rebuild the city. God was with him, and despite the opposition from all sides, Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days.
You might think to yourself, “Why did he need to rebuild the walls? Doesn’t seem like such a big deal.” Just like our flailing hope, sometimes there’s no way to get around it, some things must be rebuilt before the floodgates of blessings can be opened. Think about all the talk we’re hearing these days about borders and building a wall. In those days, a city was not fortified unless it had walls surrounding it. It would be considered an easy takeover by any adversarial threat, because it didn’t have walls to protect the inhabitants within. During that time in our history, a city would not be a city without walls.
There were plots against Nehemiah, but he had a lively, active spirit. He said in Nehemiah 7:5 that God had put a good plan into his heart, and he was determined to see it through. Every good work comes from above. It is God who gives us knowledge and grace, and He places plans to do good in our hearts. Do you have the kind of determination that Nehemiah had? If you do, have confidence that God will most certainly back you!!! Psalm 34:5(NLT) tells us, “Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces.” God’s people had come out of Babylonian captivity and the tasks ahead were daunting, but God was doing new things, and that which had been broken was being rebuilt.
During this time, the people gathered in the streets to hear Ezra, the prophet, read the Book of Moses. Listening to the words of it, they began to weep. No doubt they thought about the terrible things that happened to them in captivity. They must have been awfully sorrowful about their sin against God, and mourned all the mistakes they had made, but it was no time for tears of sadness. Nehemiah told them in Nehemiah 8:10 (NLT), “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!” Dear Sisters, note the pain of birth. You’ll recognize that newness requires strength, and strength comes from joy in the Lord!
God’s people were commanded to flip the switch on their attitudes and get happy. A time of expectation and newness is not a time of sorrow and sadness. Even our sorrow for the sins we’ve committed should not be so excessive that it hinders our joy in the Lord, because the joy of the Lord is our strength. It’s our energy, and it ought to fuel a lively, active spirit within us. We should put on a spirit of praise instead of a spirit heaviness, because God is rebuilding relationships, finances, situations, and circumstances in our lives. Our time of celebration is soon approaching, and we should make sure that God doesn’t find us with our heads hanging low. Lamentations 3:25(NLT) tells us, “The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him.” So let’s keep our hope anchored and our joy flowing in the Lord, because the time for weeping is over!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“The Time for Weeping Is Over!” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2018. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
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