by Mother Deborah Brown
“Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
To appreciate the word of God in Nehemiah 8:10, we must understand where the Israelites are standing when they are told “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
In Nehemiah chapter 8, they had just completed rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem but their lives were in shambles. Their homes, their communities and their families were still broken, after being held captive by the Babylonians. The troubles in their lives were too great to overlook and in spite of their reverence for God they were still sorrowful.
Nehemiah, whose name in Hebrew means “comforted by YAHWEH,” comforted the people. He stood up and said, “Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength," Nehemiah 8:10.
Nehemiah was a leader of the Jews and was responsible for the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return from the Babylonian captivity. However, he was able to speak into the lives of the Israelites because of his own weakening experience in Chapter 6. He was confronted with lies and great opposition but Nehemiah prayed to God and said, “Make my hands stronger..,” according to Nehemiah 6:9. Nehemiah soon became aware that there is something about the joy and remembrance of God that makes us stronger!
The trials that the Israelites went through back then, such experiences may apply to us today. Maybe, we are in the process of completing God’s work in spite of our broken lives and broken homes. Perhaps we are weakened not by our lack of nourishment but by the weight of our multiple challenges. Nehemiah reminds us to pray and ask God to make our hands stronger and then move forward believing that He will equip us with the strength that is needed to repair and restore all that is torn down or destroyed in our lives.
After we have completed God’s work, after we have worshipped Him and have been reminded of the scriptures, then we must pray and choose to celebrate with others bearing the understanding that God is our strength and that He loves us more than we can ever love Him.