Are you experiencing God at work these days? Do you see what he is doing in the situations around you? Are you asking God to include you in his work of transforming lives? I encouraged you last Sunday to think about those questions each day this week. I believe that if you have been, you are becoming more aware of God working to restore the broken walls around individuals and families.
As you have noticed by now, Nehemiah has a lot to teach us about experiencing God at work. The importance of intercessory prayer about situations that seem impossible with an emphasis of requesting God’s favour for everyone involved with his work is a major priority. And not allowing fear of what we are being called to do but stepping ahead by faith in God’s direction will give us supernatural confidence and facilitate God’s agenda.
In a general way a lot of us understand these dynamics and are ready and willing for God to use us for his purposes. But how specifically? What will my involvement with the Lord look like? What part am I to play and what parts do others play? Nehemiah shows us next how to answer those questions.
Read Nehemiah 2:11-20. By this point in the story we see that Nehemiah is a man on a mission. He is determined to go to Jerusalem and help set things in order by getting the walls of the city rebuilt. The king has promised to provide him with the resources and time he needs to get the job done. That is amazing for sure, but what needed to be done and how were questions still to be answered. And furthermore, how would all the people needed to carry out the task be enlisted and engaged in the project?
Nehemiah shows us the importance of having a vision from God to guide him and the people. Without seeing the big picture and how all of the details fit together, it’s difficult to accomplish large assignments. This also applies to your personal growth, your family, your business, your church and other aspects of your life. Having a clear goal to strive towards, recognizing your present position and what’s necessary to get you to the goal are all necessary to give you context for what you need to do at any given moment in these areas. And when all of these things are part of an overriding vision for your life as a whole, you have the best perspective possible for choosing how you spend your time and efforts.
Like Nehemiah, we need to align ourselves with God’s kingdom building plan. Our jobs, schooling, family, resources and time are maximized when they are surrendered to God to work through. Nehemiah willingly placed his life in God’s hands and considered it totally worth doing so. That’s because he had a God sized vision that inspired him to get involved with a work that needed to be done that would bring much glory and praise to God. This Sunday we will look closer at how the vision developed in Nehemiah and why that matters to us.
See you then….
Pastor Del