“And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.” (Nehemiah 2: 1)

That is the Focal Scripture of Streams of Joy Devotional today.

In the Babylonian empire, it was an error to serve a king whilst putting up a sad countenance; anyone who looked sad in the king’s presence faced the punishment of death. So servants found a way to smile even if they were truly sad; they found a way to pretend through their pain. Nehemiah had just come out of a period of fasting, and he could not keep pretending while keeping his destiny in bondage. He stopped the pretence.

Friend, you may have put up appearances in time past so that no one would know if things are okay or not. Right now, stop the pretences. Any situation that is not right is not right; any challenge that wants to crush you should not get a smile from you; every dislocation in destiny should see you groaning in prayers rather than smiling to the gallery; any habit that wants to destroy you is not worth pretending about.

The city of Jerusalem was in ruins, and Nehemiah could not keep pretending about it. He could not keep pretending when the place of God’s abode was in ruins. If the place of your walk with God is in ruins, stop the pretence and ask God to rescue you. If your life, family, marriage, business, career, etc is in ruins, ask God to come to your rescue, and do your bit to rebuild what has been destroyed or what is in ruins.

Nehemiah realized that something needed to be done concerning the ruins in Jerusalem, and it drove him out of pretence. Stop the pretence and start doing what needs to be done. Stop smiling and start praying. Stop pretending and face the challenges before you. Stop acting or pretending like all is well and seek divine intervention. Stop the pretence, roll up your sleeves, and fight the battle that is against you.

Arise and face your challenges, crush whatever in your life that is not of God, and rebuild your ruins.

Matthew 11: 12 says: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”