The Joy of the Lord as Our Strength in Missional Enterprise

A quick quiz: What book of the Bible includes the line, “The joy of the LORD is your strength”? (Without looking it up!)

Did you guess Nehemiah?

This Old Testament account, chronicling the persistent, prayerful rebuilding of Jerusalem’s wall, is the setting for this powerful proclamation about God’s joy. And this portion of the story speaks with particular relevance to missional enterprise leaders. It encourages us to rejoice and receive God’s joy in the specific context of difficult, God-given projects.

A Time for Feasting

With God’s guidance and protection, and under Nehemiah’s leadership, the people complete the wall in a breathtaking 52 days. They gather as one, and Ezra the scribe reads the Law aloud for hours. As the people understand the word they are hearing, they begin to weep.

But Nehemiah redirects them. A time for confession and covenant renewal will come (see chapters 9–10), but this moment is set apart for something else: feasting, rejoicing, and receiving the joy of the Lord.

In fact, the people soon practice the Feast of Booths, a weeklong “camp-out” of sorts, remembering God’s provision during Israel’s wilderness wanderings. It is a vivid, communal act of remembrance.

The Gap and The Gain

This need for celebration is recognized throughout the business world. A very well-received recent book for business leaders, The Gap and The Gain, by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy, explains that high-achieving leaders often sabotage motivation, confidence, and even future success when they focus primarily on the gap between where they are and where they aspire to be. Instead, the authors recommend that leaders focus on the gain from where they started:

“The way to measure your progress is backward against where you started, not against your ideal”.

Of course, those familiar with the Scriptures already know the importance of remembrance — the command to “remember” what God has done occurs hundreds of times.

Multi-dimensional Celebration

In the context of missional enterprise, this principle of remembrance and celebration is crucial. Just like Nehemiah, we have a worthy mission to accomplish, and as leaders, we can be consumed by our vision of what remains to be done. And as those who pursue not a singular material bottom line, but one with spiritual and social aspects as well, we see needs across multiple dimensions.

Nehemiah’s leadership reminds us that celebration is not an optional extra. It is part of faithful obedience. Just as he guided the people to notice and rejoice in God’s material and spiritual provision, we are invited to cultivate gratitude across every dimension of the work God has entrusted to us.

Verse of the Week:

Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 (NKJV)

May God grant us discernment to see when he is leading us to celebrate and rejoice, and empower us to pour our hearts, energy, and time into celebrating well.