In the mid 80’s I had the opportunity to make a mission trip to Brazil. We went to Manaus, in the upper Amazon basin. We met a little boy named Pablo. He followed us around most of the week. On our final day, Pablo came to see us off. As we were preparing to board our bus and start the trip home an interesting thing occurred. One of our trip members offered Pablo a generous financial trade; however, he turned it down. The man wanted to trade Pablo two American dollars for one Brazilian coin. The coin was the equivalent of a quarter. Someone intervened and helped Pablo understand his misfortune. Sometimes we do God the same way. He offers us a wonderful trade but we decline His invitation.
A song writer named Darrell Evans wrote a song, several years ago, entitled “I’m trading my sorrow. We sang that song a few minutes ago. Let me repeat the words for you.
I’m trading my sorrow
I’m trading my shame
I’m laying it down for the joy of the Lord
I’m trading my sickness
I’m trading my pain
I’m laying it down for the joy of the Lord
I’m pressed but not crushed persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I’m blessed beyond the curse for his promise will endure
And his joy’s gonna be my strength
Though the sorrow may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning
I think Darrell Evans was describing a beneficial trade. Trading sorrow, shame, sickness, and pain for God’s joy is a wonderful opportunity. God wants to make the same trade with us today. Will we make the trade? Let me show you a text that teaches this principle. “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Neh. 8:10 NKJV) This is the context. The book of Nehemiah records a time when Israel is coming back into their homeland after spending 70 years in exile. They began to rebuild their land. Israel was regaining her status as a nation and rebuilding their relationship with God. During that time the book of the law was discovered. The people had lost contact with their spiritual roots. Nehemiah called the people together and Ezra conducted a public reading of God’s word. This reading occurred at a place called the “Watergate.” I would imagine that Richard Nixon would have preferred to be at this Watergate rather than the one he visited. As the people heard the reading of God’s word they were overwhelmed by their short-comings and failures. They looked in the mirror and saw what God saw in them. They were saddened when they realized how they had failed the Lord. Repentance, sorrow, and grief are worthy when we face our sin. However, there comes a point when we lay it aside and celebrate God’s forgiveness. In this text we read where Nehemiah encouraged them to move beyond sorrow and allow the “joy of the Lord” to be their strength.
Several weeks ago we put together a little devotional book containing the stories of seventeen of our members. Many of those stories reveal a trade that took place. Our members traded a lesser life for a better life. Some of them traded sadness for singing. Some of them traded pain for praise. Some of them traded emptiness for fullness. Some of them traded darkness for light. I want to turn to our text and discover the secret of this wonderful trade. There are two phrases in this text. Those two phrases outline the truth I want you to see.
I. The first truth is: release your past to God.
A. Sorrow, pain, guilt, and grief have a place but once they perform their duty they should be thrown into the garbage can of forgetfulness.
Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn.” He was referring to mourning over sin. Once that sin is confronted we are to release it.
In II Cor. 7:10 Paul explains this sorrow. “Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
Illustration: The story of George C. Wallace sounds like something from Paul Harvey’s “the Rest of the Story.” It comes in two parts: the sad, earlier life and the hard but hopeful latter life. A dramatic and tragic event in the middle brought life-changing consequences for the man from Alabama. In 1962, Wallace ran for governor on a platform that was blatantly racist. He promised to fight integration to the point of defying federal orders and personally blockading schoolhouse doors. He ended his inaugural address with the infamous statement, “I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” That summer, he refused to allow black students to register at the University of Alabama until forced to do so by the threat of military intervention. Through his tenure as governor and a run for the presidency in 1968, Wallace spouted racial hatred while blacks were beaten and jailed, black churches were burned, and black children were murdered. Elected governor a second time in 1970, Wallace began to signal a shift in his racial stance. Perhaps he had grown weary of building his political aspirations on other people’s fears and prejudices. Or perhaps (as a good politician) he was merely sensing change in the cultural wind. But, by 1972, his message had become more populist and less bigoted. Then came May 15, 1972 – and the rest of the story. While campaigning in Laurel, Maryland, Wallace was shot five times, leaving him paralyzed and in constant pain. Two years later – confined to a wheel chair, divorced from his second wife, without the use of his legs, and lacking control of bodily functions – Wallace was a broken, pathetic figure. He was a man who finally understood the meaning of suffering. He was a man who had come to realize what suffering he had caused others. While being driven home one evening, he passed the open doors of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, a black congregation where years earlier Martin Luther King, Jr., had stood in the pulpit and denounced Wallace for his treatment of African Americans. Overcome with remorse, Wallace stopped the car, was helped into his wheelchair, and wheeled up the aisle to the stunned surprise of the assembly. There, Wallace tearfully confessed he had been wrong, apologized for the suffering he had caused, and asked the blacks of Alabama to forgive him. It was an expression of remorse he was to repeat on numerous occasions in the following years – publicly, before black audiences on campuses and conventions, and privately, to black leaders like Coretta Scott King and Jesse Jackson. During two more terms as governor (1974 and 1982), he built bridges to the black community, developed relationships with prominent black leaders, and worked to undo some of the damage his own racist rhetoric had caused. Until the very end, while bedridden and deaf, he still received visits from friends, both black and white, and met with groups of both races for prayer. Not all blacks forgave Wallace. The damage he did and the pain he caused was great. But the story of George Wallace is not about forgiveness, but about penance. Here is a man who was tragically flawed and terribly wrong. It took five bullets and horrific suffering to bring him to his knees. But once broken, he had the courage to face his hatred and prejudice, repent, confess, and then spend the remainder of his life attempting to atone and make restitution. (SOURCE: Tim Woodroof, Walk This Way: An Interactive Guide to Following Jesus, (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1999), 62-63.)
Sorrow and guilt have a positive place in our lives.
B. God wants to release us from the failures of our past. Warren Wiersbe, my favorite Bible scholar, shares a simple outline for dealing with the past. This is based on his commentary on Nehemiah.
1. Correction
2. Cleansing
3. Celebration
God’s plan for the past is that we deal with it and let it go. The people of Israel had been living in a spiritual wasteland for 70 years. They were spiritually bankrupt. Ezra read from the word of God. That reading brought them face to face with the living God. That encounter caused them to see their sin and failure in the eyes of God. This is the purpose of scripture. It is the mirror through which we see our short-comings. Some people might say “Why read the Bible if it is going to make you feel guilty?” God’s revelation is not intended to cripple but to heal.
Illustration: Let’s suppose you feel an intense pain in your side. You realize something is wrong. You go to your doctor for a check-up. The doctor schedules a cat scan. After doing the cat scan they inform you that you have a large cancerous mass in your side. With that discovery the doctor schedules a surgery to remove the mass. He does the surgery and successfully removes the cancer. That process saves your life. Whenever God reveals truth he is trying to save our lives. He wants us to move beyond our past.
C. God does not desire to destroy us with the memory of our past. God wants to use the past as the fertile ground in which to plant His miracles. That is what happened with the Israelite people in our text. They needed to move beyond the memory of the past. A good example of this is found in the life of the apostle Paul. Prior to his conversion he was filled with bitterness, cruelty, and anger. He had persecuted many believers. He had even cooperated in the cruel stoning of Stephen, which resulted in Stephen’s death. After coming to faith in Christ Paul felt sorrow for the mistakes of his past; however, he discovered God’s forgiveness. In Phil. 3:13 we find Paul’s approach to the past. He said he was “forgetting those things which were behind and pressing forward to those things which were ahead.” God uses the past to build us.
Illustration: A story from the bombing of the World Trade Centers illustrates this truth. Stanley Praimnath, Vice President for Fuji Bank, was in his office in the South Tower at the WTC when his phone rang. “Are you watching the news?’ asked a woman in their Chicago office. “Are you alright?” “I’m fine” he said wondering why she had called. Just then he turned to gaze out the window at the Statue of Liberty, as had been his routine. The surreal sight of a low-flying commercial jet, heading straight for his tower disrupted his view. He dropped the phone in mid-sentence and dove to the floor. Curling under his desk he began praying to God, “Lord, help me” he prayed desperately as the aircraft smashed into the tower. The smell of jet fuel was in the air, equipment was scattered all around with rubble covering the floor, and dust in the air, he began clawing out. “Lord, I have to go home to my family,” he wheezed. “I have to see my daughters.” Just then he saw a light. “I am here to help you.” He thought, “This is my guardian angel! The Lord sent somebody to help me!” Praimnath’s guardian angel was Brian Clark, a Christian who was an executive 3 floors below. The two miraculously climbed out of the rubble to safety. Praimnath stated, “My Lord has some unfinished tasks for me.” “I took the tattered clothes I was wearing that day, put them in a box, and wrote DELIVERANCE all over it. I told my wife, ‘if I ever get spiritually cold, I want you to bring this box to me, open it up, and show me what the Lord brought me from.”
(Contributed to Sermon Central by James Botts) Stanley used the bombing as a positive motivation to face the past.
We are to move beyond the past. Guilt, conviction, and sorrow have their place. However, they are to be trashed as we move forward.
II. The second truth is: turn to the Lord for victory. What does it mean to have the joy of the Lord? We are not referring to an emotion. We are not referring to a feeling. We are referring to God’s forgiveness, God’s love, and God’s will for our lives. We are referring to following God’s plan and God’s purpose for our lives.
A. Finding God’s strength is a decision. Nehemiah instructed the people to “sorrow not, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy is not a switch that you can cut on or off. It comes from God. However, it is your decision as to whether you ask God for this joy. Do not confuse your part and God’s part. He is the giver of “joy.” The desire must be present in your heart. Let me give you a few examples.
• In a few months will be the time to take flu shots. Taking the flu shot will protect you against the flu bug. Will the medical professionals force you to take the shot? Obviously not! You must desire it.
• Suppose you are enrolled in college and are working toward a college degree. After a period of time you become tired and decide to drop out of the program. Will the college officials force you to complete your degree? Obviously not! You must desire it.
• Suppose you are considering the purchase of a new home. You find a new home and discuss financing. After talking to the bank you discover the payments are too high and they will put you into financial risk. Will the bank force you to buy the house? Obviously not! You must desire it.
There is a lot about God’s joy that we do not understand. However, the gift of joy is a gift we must desire. We must pursue it as a step of faith.
B. Real joy comes from the Lord. D.L. Moody once said “Joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on trhough the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition. It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the heart; a secret spring the world can’t see and doesn’t know anything about. The Lord gives His people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him.” (Edith Draper, Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World—Wheaton:Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 1992. Entry 6529)
Illustration: In Decision magazine, Joni Eareckson Tada writes: Honesty is always the best policy, but especially when you’re surrounded by a crowd of women in a restroom during a break at a Christian women’s conference. One woman, putting on lipstick, said, "Oh, Joni, you always look so together, so happy in your wheelchair. I wish that I had your joy!" Several women around her nodded. "How do you do it?" she asked as she capped her lipstick. "I don’t do it," I said. "In fact, may I tell you honestly how I woke up this morning?" "This is an average day," I breathed deeply. "After my husband, Ken, leaves for work at 6:00 A.M., I’m alone until I hear the front door open at 7:00 A.M. That’s when a friend arrives to get me up. "While I listen to her make coffee, I pray, ’Oh, Lord, my friend will soon give me a bath, get me dressed, sit me up in my chair, brush my hair and teeth, and send me out the door. I don’t have the strength to face this routine one more time. I have no resources. I don’t have a smile to take into the day. But you do. May I have yours? God, I need you desperately.’" "So, what happens when your friend comes through the bedroom door?" one of them asked. "I turn my head toward her and give her a smile sent straight from heaven. It’s not mine. It’s God’s. And so," I said, gesturing to my paralyzed legs, "whatever joy you see today was hard won this morning." I have learned that the weaker we are, the more we need to lean on God; and the more we lean on God, the stronger we discover him to be. [Joy Hard Won, Citation: Joni Eareckson Tada, "Joy Hard Won," Decision (March 2000), p.12, used by permission]
(Contributed to Sermon Central by A. Todd Coget)
C. God wants to become our strength. As we begin to focus on God and his goodness we draw strength from Him. In making this step of faith we realize that human will power is insufficient. We realize that positive thinking is insufficient. We realize that personality is insufficient. In essence, we admit to God that we are inadequate to find ultimate joy in life. In our text notice the wording. “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” The word strength is an interesting word. It comes from a root that refers to a fortified place—such as a fort. This text teaches that God’s joy becomes our strength. God’s joy provides fortification to our hearts.
Last week we talked about prayer. We studied the prayer of Jehoshaphat that is recorded in II Chron. 20. In that passage Jehoshaphat is surrounded by his enemies. He is overcome with fear. God sends a prophet named Jahazael to encourage Jehoshaphat and the people. By faith they decide to trust God and follow Him by faith. The interesting thing about that story is that the primary activity of the Israelite people was to praise God. They found strength in praising the Lord. May you find strength in the Lord as well!
