Encouragement from the Past - Meditations on Nehemiah 1

"They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand." (Nehemiah 1:10, ESV)

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When Nehemiah looked toward the future, he found great comfort in the character and promise of God. God had given a specific promise that applied to this very situation, and his character guaranteed his promise. Here in verse 10 we find a third component that bolstered Nehemiah's faith and hope. He had the record of God's actions in the past. God had delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, he had led them to victory over all the nations of Canaan. He had preserved them from their enemies for centuries. By weighing God's promises against what God had already done, Nehemiah was able to see that his present situation was not beyond God's "great power" and "strong hand".

The past is filled with stories of God's power and faithfulness, both in the Bible and throughout history. All of these stories are to serve a purpose for us: to lead us to hope. Paul says in Romans 15:4, "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."  By reading the Bible and Christian history and biography, we see how God has worked in the lives of other people. We see how these people claimed God's promises and experienced God's delivery. We see them struggle and suffer and fail. We notice that they are not so different from us. If God worked like that for them, if his promises were realized in their lives, then certainly God can be trusted in our lives - this is the point of Hebrews 11.

Some people may object. Does God still enable 90-year-old women to get pregnant (Genesis 17:17), make young men fireproof (Daniel 3:25), and cause big fish to swallow men whole (Jonah 1:17)? Not usually, but make no mistake, God has not changed (Psalm 102:27; Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). His specific actions may be different, but his power to accomplish his promise, and his character which governs his action, is the same today as it was in the days of Abraham, Daniel, and Jonah.

       God has given us the threefold cord of his promise, his character, and the record of history.  If a person you did not know came up to you and promised you great riches, you would not be inclined to believe. If, however, that person identified himself as Ed McMahon, your reaction would be quite different. Why? Because you know that when Ed McMahon has shown up at other people's houses and made a similar promise, the person received what was promised. God's track record is better than Ed McMahon's. Look to the past, find out for yourself how he has proven himself faithful for others. And then ask yourself, "Isn't God worthy of my confidence?"