One morning in Uzbekistan I had a realization. I was sitting at our kitchen table, drinking the usual cup of instant coffee, with my Bible opened. I had just started reading Nehemiah & I was at the part where he goes to Jerusalem & begins rebuilding the wall. Let me set the stage for you:
So here Nehemiah is, with his fellow Israelites, working on rebuilding this wall that has been destroyed for years & years & their enemies hate it. In fact, they plot all kinds of ways they can fight the Israelites & cause confusion to stop the work. But Nehemiah stood his ground & encouraged the people by saying, “HEY. Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great & awesome, & fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, & your homes.” From that day on he positioned the laborers to work with a hammer in one hand & a sword in the other. For he knew that “the work is great & widely spread…[but] our God will fight for us.”
When I think of the work we’re doing here in Uzbekistan & all of the spiritual warfare we are facing I am reminded of these verses. You see there’s this crazy covering over Uzbekistan. We felt it the second we stepped off of the train. God’s presence is so strong & we have seen the Holy Spirit working in every aspect of our life here, but we also experienced some crazy spiritual warfare as soon as we entered. I believe that we have a job to do here, but our enemy absolutely hates it. You know that part in Ephesians that says, “for we do not wrestle against flesh & blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities… against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”? Well we have experienced that wrestling every day, but we have also experienced God’s goodness & protection right along with it.
Like Nehemiah & his crew, I found myself with a hammer in one hand & a sword in the other. Like Nehemiah & his wall we get to see the progress of God’s kingdom being built right before our eyes, but also like Nehemiah, we face extreme opposition. But we are no longer scared because along with our hammers God gave us swords & every day He’s teaching us new ways to use our weapons. Learning to hold them at the same time has been a little awkward. I am the worst multi-tasker, but God also gave us an entire community here to learn from & time & time again He is showing us that we are not fighting or building alone. He gave us these tools & He’s going to finish what He started.
That morning at our kitchen table, drinking my nescafé, God gave me a new confidence. He showed me that He has intentionally given all of us a hammer & a sword. He has given us a hammer to continue building His kingdom, whether that be in an office building, a school, or within your family. But He has also given us a sword to fight off anything that comes our way. So use these tools with boldness & confidence because the God of the universe is on our side & we are never doing this alone!!!!
