OT Promise 260: strengthened hands

Nehemiah 2:18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

The wall-building men were strengthened to do this work. They were given courage, heart, strength and will to do the work the Lord wanted done. God strengthened them through Nehemiah’s words. He told them what God had done. The Lord placed His hand on Nehemiah and He moved the king to make a favorable decree. Telling what great things God has done is always strengthening and inspiring for the hearers. That is why we create and support as many opportunities for the preaching of the gospel as we can.

The gospel tells us what great things God has done for us in Christ Jesus. His message strengthens us to do the good works that God prepared beforehand.
The Lord promises that we shall do the works that He wants done; then He gives us the idea, the desire, and the strength to do them. The Lord May use other Christians to be the encouragers, or He may use a direct Bible word. But somehow, we hear the Gospel word and we are strengthened and encouraged. The Holy Spirit has different ways of persuading, but He always uses the Gospel. The Lord touches and moves us when we hear what great things He has done for us and how much He loves us.

The Bible says David “strengthened himself in the Lord.” How did he do that? He simply listened to the word of God. We can do the same.