Nehemiah had to prepare his heart for God’s plan. God had put it in his heart to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and the city. But he was up against tremendous resistance. Local officials didn’t want the walls rebuilt, and they were determined to stop him. Not only did they try to discourage Nehemiah and his men, they also tried to make them look foolish in the eyes of the people. And they mocked them with belittling statements. (Nehemiah 2:19, 4:3)

God has put it in our hearts to stand for our marriages; the covenant we made with him and our spouses. Perhaps we have been ridiculed, made light of, or even persecuted for our beliefs. We are often told to just move on, your spouse has made up his/her mind and there is nothing that you can do about it. But trust and obey all that God has put on your heart to do, because the opposition isn’t necessarily another person, but something we wrestle with in our own minds as Satan bombards us with seeds of doubt and unbelief. Often when God asks something of us, we face resistance and opposition from the outside and from within. And those obstacles will either make us turn to God and allow Him to increase our faith or make us give up and give in to the enemy and abandon God’s purpose and our stand. But God calls us to obedient faith.

Like Nehemiah, we must realize that if God called us to a task, He will help us accomplish it. And knowing that God is behind our task is the best incentive to move ahead even when facing opposition. So God’s approval is all we need.

The officials were enraged that they couldn’t stop Nehemiah and the restoration progressed. Similarly, anger may come against us from our spouses or others in order to stop or deter us from standing for our marriages. But Nehemiah fasted and prayed until he had the mind of the Lord, and then he boldly stood up to the opposition. He wasn’t ashamed to admit his fear, but he refused to allow fear to keep him from doing what God had called him to do. When we allow fear to rule us, we make fear more powerful than God.

Nehemiah reminded his workers of their calling; of their goal and God’s protection. (Nehemiah 4:10-14) When we are mocked for our faith or criticized for doing what we know is right, we have to refuse to be discouraged. We have to remember God’s promise to be with us and let Him be our encouragement and strength to carry on. He will not ask us to do something we cannot do or He will not complete. And we show God that we are serious when we combine prayer with thought, preparation and effort.

Nehemiah trusted God to accomplish the task. He didn’t pray to get out of the situation; he prayed for strength to meet the challenge and had faith that God would see His promise through. In the same way, we are called to remain steadfast in our stand for our marriages; completely dependent on our God and His Word.

Be blessed; praise and worship God. Glorify Him and stay focused on His will for restoration.

Posted Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 8:49 am in Seeds Of Faith.