Fight For Your Sons and Your Daughters

Remember the Lord…Nehemiah 4:14

The days of Nehemiah were like our days are now. They were surrounded. We are surrounded. In the words of Lt. General Chesty Puller, “We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem. They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by the enemy that outnumbers us 29 to 1. They can’t get away now.” This was how it was for Nehemiah. This is how it is for us today. 

In the words of Nehemiah, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters. Your wives, and your houses.” Nehemiah 4:14. What simplified the problem for Nehemiah was the great and awesome Lord. What inspired Nehemiah to fight was the proper order of things. Fighting for their homes came last; after family. It is easier to fight when you are fighting for people you love. You don’t have to hate those in front of you to fight. You only have to love the ones behind you.

When we forget the Lord, problems get bigger. So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god. Thus, the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of their enemies on every side…Judges 8:33-34. True then and true now.

We were surrounded–back then. When we forget it was God who delivered us from our bondage of sin, we return; like a dog to his own vomit. We were surrounded by the effects of our sin. God delivered us anyway. He not only delivered us from our past, He established our present promising us a great future. We are now surrounded by His love—His grace—His mercy.  

Now we are prepared to fight. Being surrounded only simplifies the problem. Our enemy can no longer escape. For God is our defender, our sword, and our shield. Psalm 18:2: The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my rock, in whom I take refuge. My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Though we are promised victory, we still have to swing the sword. Just like King David.