Day 127, or May the 7th.
Cheer up!
Our God is great!
Our thoughts today are from Nehemiah chapter 4, verse 10.
Meanwhile, the people in Judah said, The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is
so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.
Now the big picture surrounding this verse.
Nehemiah gives us a comprehensive list of all the workers on the wall, including what
they did.
There are construction companies in the UK today who do not keep such detailed records.
Of course the gates they refer to are not necessarily the same as the ones in Jerusalem
today.
However, one is called the sheep gate, and St. Stephen's gate in the wall today is also
known as sheep gate.
Gates for selling sheep tend not to move much, as they are traditional sites, so the two
gates could be linked.
The builders received lots of opposition and ridicule from the authorities, but they stuck
to their tasks and worked with one hand while the other held a weapon, just in case.
And now today's action step.
We are so tired already.
There are not enough of us to finish the job.
The job is far bigger than we thought.
These were some of the comments that Nehemiah heard as he and his co-laborers worked hard
to build the wall.
Whether they were accurate comments is debatable, but they were certainly unhelpful.
Sadly, we hear similar ones in lots of churches every week.
Even comments like those that Nehemiah had to bear can weigh you down, but not him.
Remember the Lord who is great and glorious.
He told them this, and it is still great advice.
Most people learn from those around them.
If your attitude at church is negative and less than helpful, then others will learn
that from you, and you will help produce a fellowship of mourners.
On the other hand, if you always have a positive comment to make, they will learn that too.
What are people learning from watching you?
Remember the Lord is great and glorious, and rejoice.