With God, it's Possible

And let us not be weary in well doing: 

for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 

Galatians 6:9

We all face difficult situations at times.  But there is a way in which the child of God handles the adverse circumstances of our lives.  Lets look at three men in the bible who had an obstacle or struggle that they went through:

→  Nehemiah         –  rebuilding the wall           (Nehemiah 1 - 6)

→  David                 – the overtake of Ziklag       (1 Samuel 30:1-19)

→  Saul [Paul]        – blinded by God                  (Acts 9:1-16)

These 3 men faced some seemly impossible situations and yet were, through the power of God, able to endure and come out of them with their purpose fulfilled.  In the case of David and Nehemiah and with his purpose squarely in front of him in the case of Paul, how were they able to do this?  Let’s look at the nature of their struggles:

Nehemiah had a desire given to him of God to rebuild the gate or wall of Jerusalem 

And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.  Nehemiah 2:12.  

And yet, he faced many, many obstacles in doing the work that God gave him to do.  Can you imagine having this task before you – rebuilding the wall for the protection of the city and that God has given you this task, the King that you serve (who, by the way, was not Jewish) giving you his blessing and also equipping you for the journey, having the agreement of the people to do this and yet having to stop and overcome obstacles:

          ¨     First they scoffed:  

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the  Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us,  and said, What is this thing that ye do? Will ye rebel against the king?   Nehemiah 2:10

          ¨     Then they conspired:  

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites, heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up , and that the breaches began to be stopped , then they were very wroth , And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it.   Nehemiah 4:7-8

           ¨     And then the people complained:  

And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.  Nehemiah 5:1

          ¨     The enemy tried to deceive:  

That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying , Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.   Nehemiah 6:2

David had been in hiding from King Saul a little over a year.  As he was being sent back to his home, Ziklag, in hiding, after attempting to fight with the Philistines against the Israealites, the Amalekites invaded Ziklag, burned the camp and took all the women, including David’s wives, and all the children.   Can you imagine the agony that he and his men must have endured?   

               ¨     Their wives and children were taken and held captive:

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives , that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way   1 Samuel 30:1-2

         ¨     But David had a greater burden to carry:  

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved , every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.  1 Samuel 30:6

Saul, proudly terrorizing the Jewish community, was smitten by God and blinded for 3 days.  Can you imagine having eyesight and then suddenly being blind?

And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.  Acts 9:9

I look at each of these situations and wonder could I have withstood.  Would my discouragement and frustration have gotten the best of me in Nehemiah’s situation?  Would I have sunk into a state of depression in David’s situation?  Would I have been angry at God and said no to the purpose God had ordained for me?  In all honesty, I don’t know.  But I look at the obstacles they had to face and compare them to the obstacles we face today and consider that my obstacles are nothing in comparison to theirs.

We face obstacles in our lives that are certainly discouraging, frustrating, depressing and mind boggling but it is how we handle it that determines how we come out of it.  These 3 men had some things in common!  Namely, David and Nehemiah knew of the importance of prayer.  Certainly all three of them recognized that if there was going to be any victory in their struggle that it was going to have to come from God.

We, the body of Christ, should take note of these accounts and others like them; realizing that God does not change, if He brought these men out victorious in their situation, He can surely do the same for us today!

God takes what we would refer to as negative situations to prove us, to bring us closer to Him, to give us courage and strength to complete His will, to prove us and to allow us to see that all things are possible with and through God if we only believe. 

And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.   Deuteronomy 8:2  

Our testing is not to kill us but to make us stronger:  Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.    Psalms 26:2

Peter tells us to arm ourselves, to get it in our minds, prepare ourselves;  that this is a suffering way – even as Jesus suffered, so shall we.

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;   1 Peter 4:1

Our suffering is not designed to destroy us, take us out, nor to make us turn our back on God.  We must persevere despite whatever obstacles come against us; just as these 3 men did.  Isaiah lets us know that suffering makes us better:

Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.   Isaiah 48:10

   Nehemiah completed the task that God placed in his heart and he completed it to the glory of God:  

So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days. And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.  Nehemiah 6:15-16  

   David, pursued, overtook and recovered all that had been stolen from him: 

And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.  And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away : and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.   1 Samuel 30:17:19

Just think, we, the body of Christ, have something that David and Nehemiah did not have and that is the spirit of God residing within us!  If they could do all that they did and not get discouraged and give up - with Jesus on our side, so can we!  

   Despite the fact that after Paul surrendered to God and was filled with the Holy Spirit, he faced difficulties every day and yet continued every day to fulfill the assignment given to Him.  

With the Holy Spirit within us, the word of God, the blood the the lamb and the name of Jesus,  we have a force within us that is greater than anything that comes against us!

(Biblical studies)

03/13/14

07/06/15

08/30/16

04/10/19

10/16/20