Nehemiah 8:10 (CSB) 10 Then he said to them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
Our journey through life has a mixture of elations and challenges and how we perceive our challenges can refine us or become a setback. Nehemiah 8:10 mentions that the joy of the Lord IS our strength.
Every challenge comes with mighty heavenly opportunities to learn, to grow, to gain wisdom, and to testify of God’s goodness. We are all called to a place in Kingdom work and the enemy is hard at work to kill, steal, and destroy our calling and place in the kingdom.
In the very darkest times of my life, and there were many, God was with me; I was repeatedly reminded of this scripture as my peace and strength often waned. My peace and joy were the target of the enemy in the violent battles for my deliverance and wholeness. This scripture was key when the enemy had me pinned down trying to convince me of ways to take my own life, suffering with the many effects of trauma and PTSD, riddled with addictions, perceived failures, and hope was far from me. If the enemy can steal my peace, then he can steal my joy; if the enemy can steal my joy, then I have no strength for the battle. I was literally fighting for my life and needed strength from the Lord. The Lord would remind me to offer a sacrifice of praise, so he could deliver me from my troubles. (Psalms54:6-7, Jonah 2:9)
Hebrews 13:15-16 (NIV) says, “15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” I would stand up, raise my hands up to the Lord and praise Him; I would push through until the sacrifice of praise became heartfelt praise leading to joy, which gave me the strength I needed to continue moving forward.
The Lord’s reminders to me of one day being able to share my struggles to encourage others on their journey gave me hope to stay in the battle and not give up. (2 Corinthians 1: 3-11, Romans 5: 1-5) I find myself at a place where my testimony of the Lord’s goodness, grace, and mercy can and does help many. God is so amazing because after our difficult struggles and we receive the battle scars,He fills the scars with beauty. (Isaiah 61: 3) When God heals and fills our battle scars, this ends up making us seasoned warriors who can then move forward to encourage others in their battles. (Matthew 5: 14-16)
All of this leads back to the remembrance of where strength for our journey is to be found: the joy of the Lord is our strength. To God be all the glory.
We want to thank Leah Montez for sharing this post.
Women's Ministry 