Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord, do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ~ Nehemiah 8:10
In Nehemiah, the people of Judah had just rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem and the walls were not as impressive as other city walls, or even the old ones of this very city. This discouraged some of the people. Not to mention that there was great opposition to the walls being rebuilt in the first place, so even though the work was complete, there was a quiet lull around the people. They had listened to Ezra, the high priest, read from the Book of the Law, worshipped God and then began to weep. They acknowledged their disobedience to God and felt defeated. Nehemiah, the governor, seems like he became a little annoyed and wanted this to be a joyful celebration. These people had forgotten they were God’s people and the rebuilding of the walls was a great accomplishment. They had forgotten their joy. I dare say they were also a little downcast because they had forgotten some of The Law and God was now in a process of restoring them. The people of Judah had let themselves get distracted and now it was time to repent and repoint. Anytime anyone repents to God, it’s a great time to celebrate. The moment anyone addresses their sin and wants to repoint their lives to Christ, He is there waiting to rejoice with them, not demean them. Nehemiah wanted these people to realize that God is in the business of restoration and forgiveness. Rejoice! This is holy ground and we should celebrate with everyone! Even in the middle of our life’s biggest mistakes and messes, God wants to meet you there. God doesn’t expect you to clean up before He can show up. Just invite Him. He can take the dirty and make it clean! He can give you a joy that you’ve never experienced before! Not the joy that comes from this world and your circumstances - that’s circumstantial happiness. True joy can only come from the Lord when we abide in what He has done for us and the greatness of what’s to come. True joy stays focused on the eternal perspective of life and produces strength to endure whatever comes our way. True joy is not circumstantial, but consistent focusing on God’s promises even through the fire. And true joy is to be shared - shared with others so they may be drawn to Christ. True joy is shared and finds trust and comfort from God no matter the circumstances. Repentance is a great starting point to finding joy in the Lord. Let’s be joyful for everything God has done for us and is yet to do. ~ Amen
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