The hindering of good work is what bad men aim at, and promise themselves success in; but good work is God's work, and it shall prosper. God has many ways of bringing to light the devices and designs of his church's enemies.
If our enemies cannot frighten us from duty, or deceive us into sin, they cannot hurt us. (Big statement)
Nehemiah put himself and his cause under the Divine protection. It was the way of this good man, and should be our way. All his cares, all his griefs, all his fears, he spread before God. Before he used any means, he made his prayer to God. Having prayed, he set a watch against the enemy.
If we think to secure ourselves by prayer, without watchfulness, we are slothful, and tempt God; if we secure ourselves by watchfulness, without prayer, we are proud, and slight God. Either way, we forfeit his protection. (WOW!)
God's care of our safety, should engage and encourage us to go on with vigour in our duty. As soon as a danger is over, let us return to our work, and trust God.
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This statement is HUGE for me....(so huge, I'm making it my facebook status :)
ReplyDeleteIf we think to secure ourselves by prayer, without watchfulness, we are slothful, and tempt God; if we secure ourselves by watchfulness, without prayer, we are proud, and slight God. Either way, we forfeit his protection.
I do a MUCH better job with watchfullness than with prayer about my watchfullness.
When I was creating the blog, I remember taking pause at the statement at the top where I typed - how prayer AND hard work can accomplish seemingly impossible things. Here's my reality: I AM NOT GOOD AT PRAYER!
Once again, we were having a similar type conversation last night. I'm better about prayer now than I was a couple of years ago, but still need to work on this discipline. Here's the interesting thing, though, I've been praying so much for my church, but one of the things I've failed to consider is the need for watchfulness in the heavenlies. A light bulb went off last evening about the need for prayer for spiritual warfare. The evil one so doesn't want our church to be the beacon it can be and has set up shop in and through people who, I think, truly believe they are doing the right thing. The spirits of entitlement, pride, fear, selfishness, and, I'm sure, others have reared their ugly heads time after time. I think I've been so focused on the people involved that I've not recognized the source of the discord and disunity in our church. Time to hit the knees. Anyone care to join me?
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