The wall is halfway up, but rubbish still heaps high, and the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed. In Nehemiah 4 the builders look away from what is already raised and declare they are not able—while those who mocked now gather to fight. How do you keep building when the work is unfinished and you are already spent?
It’s easy to talk about being bold for Jesus until opposition comes—when it’s dangerous, uncomfortable or people may look down on us. In Matthew 2, Joseph and Herod both have choices to make in response to God coming into the world. Do our own responses to God look show bold faith or frantic fear?
Most of us know what it feels like to start strong in our faith and then quietly fizzle out from that initial strength — and the churches in Revelation 2–3 knew that feeling, too. As Jesus responds to them with a reward for the one who “conquers,” what does conquering look like for ordinary, fizzle-prone people like us?
Join Pastor Tim on this uncertain week in our world, we turn to the next three Psalms, which remind of us God’s faithfulness to His people.