Dear Friends,
Thinking and praying lately more and more on building unity in the Body of Christ the story of Nehemiah came to mind.
In the first few chapters we find Nehemiah working to organize and lead the Jews upon their return from exile in Babylon to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The walls were in great disrepair
and had been in shambles as well as burned in various places. They were needed to protect the temple which had been built 70 years before and the city from attack.
Nehemiah was a cup bearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia but he was of Jewish ancestry. He asks for permission from his king to go to Jerusalem to repair these walls. Many exiles were now returning to the city from Babylonia. He faces much opposition and even threats but is able to mobilize the people anyway.
"I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied. "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work. (Nehemiah 2:18)
Various family clans and groups even the priests are assigned to be responsible for building a portion of the walls closest to their home and near the gates of the city, e.g. Valley Gate, Horse Gate, Dung Gate, Valley Gate, Water Gate, etc. Eventually the people succeed and the walls are rebuilt. However, the most important part of the story involves the necessity of prayer in all of this. It is not enough to acknowledge the vision and set out to do the work...not without the prayer needed.
We see that played out when at first Nehemiah recognizes and acknowledges God's holiness and confesses his sins before he even approaches the king to ask for permission to go to Jerusalem to start the project. He asks God for strength. He asks God to deal with his enemies and their evil plans. And always he says, "Remember me, God." What this accomplished was the preparation of Nehemiah's heart and gave God room to work. Results were up to God.
Sometimes Nehemiah expressed anger and got frustrated with how it was going but he never took the matter into his own hands. He showed great trust but was wise in getting thoroughly prepared. For emotional and mental stability he relied on God. There would be no revenge against the enemies who arose, for justice was left up to God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think Nehemiah's story can model for us the concept of working together in and for Christian unity-a rebuilding process and can also reflect to the whole idea of working together for any God-given vision in Christian community. Like Nehemiah we must always put prayer first and we must pour out our hearts to God. The former cup-bearer [turned building superintendent] became a vessel through which God worked.
However, praying is an action, but not the only action Nehemiah did. He inspected the damage, evaluated what needed to be done, and put the people to work. As the NIV translation relates: "...for the people worked with all their heart." (Neh. 4:6b)
There are evil types in the narration: e.g. One is Sanballat who when he "Heard that we(the people of Jerusalem) were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble--burned as they are?" Nehemiah 4:1-2. Sanballat seems to be a Satan figure...ridiculing, doubting, and discouraging.
In summing it up then: this awesome account of rebuilding rubble and restoration teaches the lesson that the first step in any venture is to pray. People of prayer who have a mind to work can under God's direction accomplish tasks which seem impossible.
Thinking and praying lately more and more on building unity in the Body of Christ the story of Nehemiah came to mind.
In the first few chapters we find Nehemiah working to organize and lead the Jews upon their return from exile in Babylon to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The walls were in great disrepair
and had been in shambles as well as burned in various places. They were needed to protect the temple which had been built 70 years before and the city from attack.
Nehemiah was a cup bearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia but he was of Jewish ancestry. He asks for permission from his king to go to Jerusalem to repair these walls. Many exiles were now returning to the city from Babylonia. He faces much opposition and even threats but is able to mobilize the people anyway.
"I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied. "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work. (Nehemiah 2:18)
Various family clans and groups even the priests are assigned to be responsible for building a portion of the walls closest to their home and near the gates of the city, e.g. Valley Gate, Horse Gate, Dung Gate, Valley Gate, Water Gate, etc. Eventually the people succeed and the walls are rebuilt. However, the most important part of the story involves the necessity of prayer in all of this. It is not enough to acknowledge the vision and set out to do the work...not without the prayer needed.
We see that played out when at first Nehemiah recognizes and acknowledges God's holiness and confesses his sins before he even approaches the king to ask for permission to go to Jerusalem to start the project. He asks God for strength. He asks God to deal with his enemies and their evil plans. And always he says, "Remember me, God." What this accomplished was the preparation of Nehemiah's heart and gave God room to work. Results were up to God.
Sometimes Nehemiah expressed anger and got frustrated with how it was going but he never took the matter into his own hands. He showed great trust but was wise in getting thoroughly prepared. For emotional and mental stability he relied on God. There would be no revenge against the enemies who arose, for justice was left up to God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I think Nehemiah's story can model for us the concept of working together in and for Christian unity-a rebuilding process and can also reflect to the whole idea of working together for any God-given vision in Christian community. Like Nehemiah we must always put prayer first and we must pour out our hearts to God. The former cup-bearer [turned building superintendent] became a vessel through which God worked.
However, praying is an action, but not the only action Nehemiah did. He inspected the damage, evaluated what needed to be done, and put the people to work. As the NIV translation relates: "...for the people worked with all their heart." (Neh. 4:6b)
There are evil types in the narration: e.g. One is Sanballat who when he "Heard that we(the people of Jerusalem) were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble--burned as they are?" Nehemiah 4:1-2. Sanballat seems to be a Satan figure...ridiculing, doubting, and discouraging.
In summing it up then: this awesome account of rebuilding rubble and restoration teaches the lesson that the first step in any venture is to pray. People of prayer who have a mind to work can under God's direction accomplish tasks which seem impossible.
__________________
