Encouragement
Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise! You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry hosts, the earth, and all that is in it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything and the multitudes of Heaven worship you. Nehemiah 9:5-6
This is the same God that we serve today! He didn't change, He is still good! He is over His people, on the throne, and is exalted by angels in Heaven!
The Israelites confessed their sins in this chapter in Nehemiah, and they were overcome with gratitude with the mercies and love of their God. And don't forget, this is even before He sent the Messiah to them.......this was just an introduction to better things to come. The israelites kept turning from God, becoming arrogant, and forgetting His goodness. God, then would punish them, and hand them over to their enemies, and everytime, He would have compassion on them, and forgive them and take them back. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Does to me.
So often we forget how BIG and how gracious our God is. We get afraid looking at our lives and wondering what will become of it. But we must remember, the same God who put each star in the sky, each creature in the sea, each tree in the ground is the same God who made you, and wrote the chapters of your life. I hope I am not going off on a tangent when I say this, but when I go to the grocery store, in the produce section, and look at all of the fruits and veggies He created, I am amazed that He did all that! His creativity is endless, His mind is higher than ours, and His ways are better/higher than our ways! He is above every circumstance, every person(for example, your boss at work, an unsaved family memeber, whoever causes you unrest), everything.
I don't know what the Israelites were thinking when they took those days to pray to the Lord and seek forgiveness, but I can imagine they were worn-worn by their own sins, their own disbelief, and the lifestyle that they had adapted. I believe it was killing their spirits, and they were tired of it, and they longed to be with their One True Love, the one who established them in the first place. The one who called them His own, the One who made them who they were. No false idol could fulfill them, only the One True God who made them.
This is the same for us-me at least! So often this week I would become tired and overwhelmed, and that still small voice would come into my head, as I felt like giving in-it said "where else can you go?" Who else can I turn to, but the one who knows everything? And not only does He know everything, He cares about everything! I love how He is a personal God, He cares about world issues, and about the issues we face in our own lives everyday. I really enjoy reading the stories in the bible and comparing them with my own life, and remembering how He came through for them, He will come through for me.
This verse in Nehemiah is a reminder of how to respond to feelings of helplessness, and of loss. Gods people certainly didnt feel like Gods people when they let their sins get the best of them. But I imagine that after they took that time to praise God, to acknowledge Him, and to repent, they felt much better. Like they were His children again. Like their relationship with Him was right, and they were ready to reclaim the blessings they gave up in the past.
God has AMAZING promises for us, ones that are being fulfilled right now. When we acknowledge Gods greatness, I think we will see Gods greatness! When we praise God, I think He will RAIN DOWN ON US, AND WE WILL NOT BE THE SAME AFTER HE DOES
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