Nehemiah 8:10

NASB – Then he said to them, “Go, eat the festival foods, drink the sweet drinks, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your refuge.”

NLT – And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!”

VOICE – God back to your homes, and prepare a feast. Bring out the best food and drink you have, and welcome all to your table, especially those who have nothing. This day is special. It is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve over your past mistakes. Let the Eternal’s own joy be your protection.

Celebrate With the Grief

Nehemiah was a main character in the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Israelite’s exile. He provided leadership in both administrative tasks, as well as being a spiritual leader. Nehemiah decreed to go out and celebrate with delicious food. Within the context of the Jewish calendar, this may have been during a sacred communal moment of celebration and renewal. These feasts were times of joy and gratitude. The same can be said for the sweet drinks. Nehemiah wants his audience to share this blessing with those that have nothing – to be able to care for those in need.

The day was about worship and remembering what God has done and provided. God wants these times for communal conversation, reflection, and renewal of God’s promises to His believers. Nehemiah’s audience felt grief when hearing the Law being read to them. They felt shame and guilt about how they fell short of God’s goal. Nehemiah says these things in the tone of encouragement – to remind them of God’s grace and forgiveness. It shows the power of repentance and joy that comes from reconciling your relationship with God.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How do you see joy in recognizing your shortcomings? How can you find reconciliation in your relationship with God?

Emotions Do Not Define You

We hear Nehemiah say: “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your refuge.” This is not saying: “Don’t feel sad.” “Don’t feel grief.” “Don’t feel mad or frustrated.” We can often take verses in Scripture and take them as “all-or-nothing” statements. We can feel these emotions and work through, but we must not become them. The “be” in Nehemiah’s wording is important. We can let our emotions become our identity. However, our emotions are a response to our surroundings.

Think of the difference between these sentences: “I am anxious. I feel anxiety. I am a person who is anxious.” This is has been a truly revolutionary mindset for me recently. One I was introduced to while I create our Safer Sanctuaries policies when I was Youth and Children’s Director. Their language was to remember the human-first approach. We can do this with others often easier than we do it with ourselves. Let’s break this down a little bit deeper.

• “I am anxious.” You are identifying yourself as anxious. You are labeling your actions and thoughts as an anxious person. You are feeling the emotions that comes in addition to anxiety. In essence, I see this sentence creating a sense of identity around the anxiety that you can feel.
• “I feel anxiety.” You are describing the reaction to your environment. You are explaining the feelings that going on in you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You still recognizing your own humanness, often from a place where your boundaries were crossed.
• “I am a person who is anxious.” You are fully separating your emotions from your identity. You remember who you are, while acknowledging how you feel about what’s going on around you.

Granted, this is not an “end-all-be-all” understanding of these statements, but these are statements that help me understand my emotions from a more analytical and logical approach. It let’s me take a step back and observe them as a third-party, in essence. When I do this, and get a greater understanding of what I’m feeling, I feel like I can communicate with God more clearly. I can give God everything that is on my heart without my own internal feelings of wandering and circling the drain. When I do this, I may feel guilt and shame of how I strayed away from the ideal that God set for me. I don’t have to approach this with remorse and hopelessness. I can approach God honestly, trusting that God will meet me with mercy and guidance, and confidence that He will teach me and guide me on the paths that He has set before me.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How can you separate your emotions from your identity? How can you remember who you truly are, and respond to your emotions out of the kindness and gentleness that reside inside of you?