Endure! Introduction

At the beginning of 2021, our leaders presented us with goals they had developed to keep us focused for the year. These goals were summarized in three words: “Return, Rebuild, Rejoice.” Inspired by the book of Nehemiah, we saw 2021 as a year in which we would emerge from the pandemic that brought everything to a screeching halt the previous year and, with God's help, return to a state of normalcy.

Then the delta variant hit. Cases rose to all-time highs, hospitals began to fill up again, and death rates increased. At this writing, we're still not out of the woods, and more than ever we are impressed with a sense of how uncertain the future really is.

If we have learned anything this year, we have come to appreciate the truth that all things happen on God's timescale, not our own.

Does that mean we should abandon our goals? Of course not! God’s word encourages us to endure. We still need to focus on returning to the work, rebuilding our congregation, and booking forward to a time when we can rejoice over what God has been able to do.

This series of open home discussions focuses on the first two chapters of Nehemiah where we can study the example of Nehemiah and his people—their plans, setbacks, and endurance. They knew it was God's will to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Events did not unfold exactly as they had envisioned them, but they kept their faith in God, strengthened their hands for the good work, and focused on doing the next right thing. Because of their endurance, at the end of the story “God had made them rejoice with great joy” (Nehemiah 12:43).

If we endure, our day of rejoicing will come too. In one sense, that day is already here, for God has already brought us through many storms. But the best is yet to come. The question is, do we, as Nehemiah and his people, have enough faith to endure?