I listened to her quiet
crying over the phone. My soul ached to make it better but, as usual, there was
nothing I could do right now except listen.
I prayed as she talked,
God what can I do? And the thing He showed me is this: I can’t make a happy
ending for her. Shoot, she can’t make
the happy ending. This is not consoling.
I am frustrated and tired of sadness and hopelessness. As I sat there holding the phone I thought: What is happening here? What are you saying, Lord? Where is the hope?
I saw my tattered-$6-basic-been-around-the-world Bible. I reached for that Light.
God brought me to Nehemiah.
An ancient Old Testament guy, who saw some miracles in his lifetime.
Listen, God said, I am speaking through this old old story:
Nehemiah loved God with
all his heart. But he was far from home, his place of worship and his
support group of friends who believed like him. He had only his faith in the
LORD to keep him going. As a matter of fact, his homeland was destroyed and his
temple was in ruins. When he discovered this news, he wept at the enormity
of the devastation to his people, his beliefs. So he prayed and fasted to ease
his grieving mind. I can just imagine that he pleaded with God to send warriors
and skilled craftsmen to rebuild his city and temple. He could just see gifted architects
and strong young men rebuilding the fortifying walls around his home again. After
all Nehemiah wasn’t a laborer, he was a servant in the royal courts.
His job: cup bearer to
the King.
Cup...Bearer?
Cup...Bearer?
Cup bearer: serves the King
drinks. Sometimes must take the first swallow in order to prove it isn’t
poisoned. Knows royal protocol and is basically a royal servant on the order of
a butler…
Not a builder.
Not an architect.
And certainly not a young buck who
can haul stones for a wall.
But God had other plans.
He wanted His city fortified. His people called to repentance and taught His
Word once again. He wanted to restore them and show His glory to them and through
them once again. He chose to make this happen using the most unlikely man in
the most unlikely way.
And guess what happened?
Nehemiah risked his life in asking the King for some time off to go rebuild
this wall…
and he got it along with the King’s blessing.
He faced a lot of
opposition while he was in Jerusalem, but that wall got built in an astonishing 52
days. (When was the last time you saw a construction project that got done
ahead of time?)
Every time I read
Nehemiah I hear God say:
Not everything in life turns out the way you expect it to. I am most
glorified when the broken, ill equipped, and flawed people are put in
situations where they cannot possibly make anything happen on their own. Be
open to my way of working in your life. Trust me.
You and I would have
never chosen Nehemiah to get this job done. But God did and He is still
glorified for it today.
I don’t think you and I
would have chosen a prostitute to protect the next leader of the Israelites either.
Or a runty little shepherd boy to be King of Israel.
Or a Beauty queen to save
all the Jews from execution.
Or fishermen to be
evangelists.
Or a Pharisee to teach
about grace.
Or the son of a teenage
mother to save the world.
So when life is looking
impossibly hopeless and all the plans you have tried to fulfill to make things
happen are shattered and destroyed, be encouraged. God is finally able to get
to work in your life to make miracles happen. If you will only let Him.
He who created life out
of dirt can make hope and happiness come out of the most broken, ill equipped, flawed,
and faithful people on earth.
Ephesians 3:20-21
New King James Version
(NKJV)
20 Now
to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory
in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
credits:
The Wall that Nehemiah Built http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=35&Issue=2&ArticleID=7
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