Daily PresenceSample

My sister used to “dare” me to do the most random things. After a family meal, she’d often build a concoction of leftovers from her plate and offer to pay anyone who’d have the courage to eat it off her spoon! Most of the time the answer was an obvious “no,” but then the taunting would begin. Before I knew it I’d be gagging on a spoonful of ketchup and table salt.

Very little can motivate me more than being told I’m a “chicken” or simply unable. I wonder how many things I’ve done in life simply because someone told me I’d never be able to! Nehemiah must’ve been made from the same fiber. As he begins to face what seemed like an insurmountable task, he is faced with opposition and disbelief. Maybe the motivation he and his people needed came from the last place they’d expect; their enemy.

At the beginning of Nehemiah 4, the opposition says: “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”

Nehemiah’s people are called “feeble” and their enemies openly expect failure to come swiftly. They continue, saying: “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

Wow, this is some serious “biblical smack talk!”

Instead of giving up and agreeing with his adversaries, Nehemiah rises to the occasion. He hears the taunting and he recognizes the danger but he knows God is able to empower his people in ways his enemies will never understand! I’m so thankful that I don’t face challenges alone!

When the devil comes at me saying “you can’t do it” he might be right. In my own strength, I probably can’t, but he doesn’t have the whole story! My power doesn’t come from my own capability but from the Spirit’s empowerment in me! So go ahead and taunt me, I’ll only see it as a challenge to rely more on the God who gives me strength!