But I prayed, "Now strengthen my hands." - Nehemiah 8:8

Nehemiah is a guy from the Old Testament that's too often overlooked.  He was the leader of the third wave of exiles from Babylon and he was the one responsible for leading God's people to rebuild Jerusalem.  To appreciate the above verse, we need to first look at what had happened up to this point.

Previously, two groups of exiles had returned and in all that time they'd only managed to rebuild the temple.  They were discouraged from many different directions and they hadn't re-established their relationship with God so that by the time Nehemiah arrived, there was a lot to do and nobody doing it.  He took direction from God and organized the Jews so that the work could commence.  They weren't even halfway through when opposition took hold and the enemy made many attempts to destroy the work and Nehemiah himself.

How many times have we found ourselves in situations where it seems like everything is working against us?  What's our first response?  I'll admit, on more than one occasion, I've found myself wanting to run and hide.  Bad things happen and I don't want to have to deal with them - but that wasn't how Nehemiah responded.

It would have been easy for him to give up.  After all, that was the precedent that had been set by the Jews before him - when the going gets tough, the tough get going.  But giving up wasn't his nature, and he was pursuing what God had called him to do.  His more appropriate response - "Make me stronger."

Rather than turn tail, Nehemiah prayed that God would equip him for the task.  He didn't want God to protect him, he wanted God to use him... and that's what God did.  Only a few verses later we read that the wall was completed and Jerusalem was rebuilt - all because they had a leader that didn't give up... he stepped up.

Is there something in your life right now that seems to hard to handle on your own?  Ask God for strength.  He wants you to move forward and will provide the way to do it!