Today's devotional was written by Roberta Tucker Brosius. We were roommates in college, when she was Legolas to my Gimli, many moons ago. We've been published together in a couple of books as well.
There’s so much about Nehemiah I admire, but Darlene has advised me to
pick just one thing from chapters 4 – 7 in his book . So I won’t write about
Nehemiah’s ability to encourage others when he should have been discouraged
himself. Nor will I expound on his discernment in recognizing evil in both foes
and frenemies. I won’t gush about his total investment of time, money, and self
to achieve his goal of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls after Judah’s exile.
Instead I’ll share
some thoughts about Nehemiah’s strategy, because I think you and I should adopt
it.
I like the style of
the book of Nehemiah; it seems to be his personal journal. He’ll spend a few
paragraphs recounting all the craziness and frustration he’s experiencing and
then suddenly he’ll write a prayer.
He had “pray without
ceasing” mastered centuries before Paul penned it.
When his enemies
insulted him and his building project, he prayed, “Hear us,
our God, for we are despised….” (4:4).
When the
same men plotted to stir up trouble, he prayed and increased security personnel
(4:9).
After
he resolved the conflict between the haves and the have-nots among the returned
exiles, he asked God to reward him. (5:19).
When Sanballat (Public Enemy Number
One) continued to harass Nehemiah and tried to intimidate him, he prayed for
increased strength (6:9).
When Shemaiah (a frenemy) tried to
lure Nehemiah to seek sanctuary in the Sanctuary, he saw through this scheme to
intimidate him, and asked God to judge all the co-conspirators (6:13 – 14).
Nehemiah writes that
those who hauled the materials carried a weapon in one hand and those who built
the wall wore swords (5:16 - 18). Nehemiah himself was also continually armed
(5:23). His attitude about swords, spears, and arrows extended to prayer, a
believer’s spiritual weaponry. His every action was linked to prayer. His every
prayer was joined to action. That’s how the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt
after 52 days of construction, opposition, conflict, famine, and
discouragement.
Since we’re not living
in Bible times, can this work for you and me? I’ve seen it happen this year at
the small, struggling Christian academy where I teach. We experienced
opposition and discouragement, and our pitiful salaries remained the same while
our health insurance costs climbed. We came perilously close to shutting the doors
forever.
I wasn’t thinking
about Nehemiah when we began the school year, but looking back, I think we
followed his strategy in our own faltering, imperfect way: We linked our
actions to prayer. We joined our prayers to action. God honored both.
Absolutely beautiful nibble God bless you ChrisG
ReplyDeletere: "He’ll spend a few paragraphs recounting all the craziness and frustration he’s experiencing and then suddenly he’ll write a prayer." that's kind of how my journaling (such as it is) goes. thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreatt post thank you
ReplyDelete