Courage to Rebuild: Remember the Lord Amid Opposition

The story points to a greater story. Where Nehemiah prepares the people to fight, Jesus Christ actually allows himself to be wounded. And at the cross, that mockery, it reached its peak. And violence did have its moment. And to the enemy, god's work appeared to be at its weakest. And yet and yet at the cross, this is where renewal is secured. This is where rebuilding is established because the greatest opposition humanity could muster. [01:09:30] (37 seconds)  #CrossSecuresRenewal

But but god's response was not to fortify a city. That's what what he did. Jesus didn't post guards. He didn't call down judgement. Know what he did? He absorbed the opposition. That's what Jesus Christ does. He absorbed the opposition. He absorbed the sin. He absorbed the judgment himself. And where Nehemiah, you know, protects the people by standing on walls and and standing watch, Christ protects us. He protects you by offering his body. [01:08:53] (37 seconds)  #JesusAbsorbsOpposition

You know, this isn't like some kind of bravado by Nehemiah. It's not that kind of courage. This is godly courage, and and it doesn't come from self at all. You know where it comes from? It comes from a memory. What does he say? He says, remember the lord because as you remember who god is, here's what happens. Fear shrinks. When god is remembered properly, when god is remembered rightly, your fears will shrink in light of how big and how awesome and how great God is. [01:04:29] (35 seconds)  #RememberGodFearShrinks

And what's happening here is this. Okay. You remember the walls being built? And Sanballat and Tobias show up, and they're attacking them, but not with weapons. No. They're attacking them with mockery. That's how they do this. And they say, what are these feeble Jews doing? The translation is like, really? You? This? And and what are their targets? What are they targeting here? You know, it's it's not their tools. They're targeting the people's identity. That's what they're after. Are are they targeting their progress? No. They're targeting their purpose. This is the way this works. Are they targeting their wall? No. They're targeting their hope. [00:48:00] (47 seconds)  #MockeryTargetsHope

And and this is how spiritual resistance works. Again, this is teaching. Okay? This is how spiritual resistance works. It doesn't need to overpower you. It just needs to wear you down. It needs to wear you out. And so if you feel like it's never ending, if you feel like you're getting worn out, that is the intention of the opposition. [01:00:44] (24 seconds)  #ResistanceWearsYouDown

You know, if rebuilding in your life has drawn resistance, you may not be failing. That that may not be the case at all. You actually may be standing precisely where obedience has placed you. So here's the question you'll be considering. Okay? Where have you interpreted resistance in your life as failure when it may actually be evidence that God is rebuilding something? [01:11:51] (28 seconds)  #ResistanceIsNotFailure

Here's what will happen. Fear in your heart will become amplified. It'll become more powerful when you rehearse the lies over and over again. When you're thinking about all the voices and the things you've heard that hurt you and distract you, when you do that over and over again, when that becomes louder than the word of God, you have a problem. Because the voices that are not of God's spirit will become louder in your head than the word. So you've gotta rehearse the word in your life. [01:01:08] (34 seconds)  #RehearseTheWord

You know, and and fear does fracture the soul, but memory restores it. And and courage is like theological become before it becomes emotional. So here's the question to consider. What fear has been shaping your life, your decisions lately? And what truth about God do you need to remember in order to keep rebuilding? [01:12:28] (27 seconds)  #MemoryRestoresCourage