A Happy Heart

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 (NIV)

Your strength does not come from a restored life. Your strength does not come from praise-filled rejoicing. Your strength comes from the Lord, and only in the Lord can you find joy. You’re going to need this truth because antagonism toward you will never stop.

The threats will persist. Life will keep balancing you with a diet of joy and sorrow. But the joy of the Lord is where you’ll find strength.

Nehemiah is saying: You don’t have joy because you rebuilt walls. You don’t have joy because you are attempting to rebuild lives. You have joy because the Lord has made you a fortress to ensure your safety. That safety is not in the walls. Your safety is in your God.

Jerusalem’s walls were thought to be impenetrable when they were constructed, and then the Babylonians laid them in ruins. Now, the difference between the ruins of the walls that caused your exile and the restoration and rebuilding of the walls that signal your repentance is that this time, what secures your space is not how strong your walls are, but how mighty your God is.

And even if the walls are to be attacked again, your God is stronger in battle than all your enemies. So the lesson is simple. Nehemiah says, celebrate the day. Participate in joy and feasting. Resist any temptation to be gripped by regret and mourning. But only if you have learned to find your delight in your relationship with the Lord. Because your power, your force, your might, your resilience, your stamina, your endurance, and your fortitude come from the delight you have in the Lord.