This weekend I took my chronological Bible to the lake with
us to catch up on my reading. I didn’t get a lot done, but I did some. I don’t
know about you, but I often have a hard time concentrating and forget what I
read the instant I finish. Plus, I often get interrupted—mainly by my
5-year-old.
This morning, back at home, I opened my Bible to the point
where my bookmark was. I realized I had read this section already, so I skipped
ahead to find an unfamiliar part. I came to Nehemiah 4, and the last few verses
spoke to powerfully to me and a situation in my life—especially regarding
events of the weekend.
I underlined several phrases and wrote in the margin. Then I
turned the page and realized that I actually had read all of it while at the
lake! Where I had actually left off was two pages beyond my bookmark! Had I
forgotten to move my bookmark? I never have before. Had my 5-year-old moved it?
Possibly, but I never saw her anywhere near my Bible. All I know is that I was meant
to read
Nehemiah 4 today…
“When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and
that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.” Nehemiah 4:15 (NIV)
I am often distracted by the enemy’s plots. I get so wrapped
up in my own stuff—my grief and worry. I get caught up in discouragement and
despair, and that keeps me from accomplishing what I truly believe God has
called me to do. I feel unworthy and incapable. Who am I to think that I could
serve God or speak to anyone else about Him? But if I would just listen and
seek God, instead of focusing on my worries, fears and insecurities, maybe I,
too, would be more aware of the enemy’s plot. Just maybe I could see how God
was frustrating that plot!
“Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and
held a weapon in the other, and each of the builders wore his sword at his side
as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.” Nehemiah 4:17-18 (NIV)
Ruth Bell Graham wrote a poem that has helped carry me
through times of terrible worry and stress. If you’re a mom, you
understand—especially if you’re a mom of an adult child who has struggles. I
want so much for my child. I want things that he doesn’t necessarily want for
himself. But part of me feels like I must convince him to want these things! I
have to make him understand. Graham’s poem addresses this problem we mothers
have. She talks about how she prays all day long as she goes about her work,
and she spends time on her knees in prayer at night. But she also realizes that
there is a work that needs to be done in her child that only God can do! She
ends by saying, “God is God and there is work to do.” So instead of wearing myself out worrying and strategizing
for my child, I will pray, put my child safely in the hands of God, and then I
will go on with my work that I feel God calling me to do. I will do my work
with one hand and in the other I will carry a weapon—the word of God--that I
continue to pray over my child. But I will not stop moving forward. I will not
be paralyzed by fear and worry!
“Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there.
Our God will fight for us!” Nehemiah 4:20 (NIV)
Instead of wasting my prayer time trying to convince God to
do things my way, I will trust His way. Instead of trying to change His mind
about my situation, I will listen for that trumpet. And when I hear it, I will
rush to join God in the work that He is doing. He will fight FOR me!
Thank you, Lord, for not allowing me to skim over this
portion of scripture that I’ve read so many times. However that bookmark got
placed two pages back doesn’t matter. What does matter is that You will go to
great lengths to speak to me. I just have to listen!
