Examining the Walls

Hey everyone. 

In my first post about Nehemiah, I made reference to a Dave Pocta booklet on building the Youth and Family Ministry.  The text I am going to talk about today was his starting point and it got me hooked on the study of Nehemiah and asking the questions needed to see this ministry grow.  The text of the story is Nehemiah 2:11-18.

Nehemiah sets out to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.  After arriving, he sets out during the night to assess the damage on the city.  He examines the walls and the various gates that had lay in ruin for generations.  After his examination, he pulls the leaders otgether and gives a no-nonsense assessment of their situation, saying "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruin, and its gates have been burned with fire."  Then he lays out the challenge: "Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."  (Neh. 2:17) Finally, he shows them how God had already been at work. (Neh. 2:18)

Three things Nehemiah does here to get the building process going.  First, he examines the situation.  Likewise, if we are looking to build a ministry or are only looking to build on our own spiritual house, we need to take a good honest look at where we are.  What do we have?  What do we need?  Second, we need to be honest about the situation.  It would not have helped Nehemiah or the people of Jerusalem one bit if he had said the things were looking good, when they weren't.  Being that brutally honest with ourselves is not always easy, but at times it is needed.  Nehemiah used words like "in ruins." "burned by fire," and "disgrace."  Finally, he called on the people to help him rebuild the city.  He would not be able to complete such a project alone.

Wisely Nehemiah finishes his challenge by explaining to these leaders what God had already done.  We need a good no-nonsense assessment of our own situation, but if we leave it there and don't bring God's power into the picture, it becomes depressing, because all we are doing is looking at how inadequate we are.  The complete picture shows what can be done through God's strength.

Notice at the end of verse 18, how the leaders responded.  ""Let us start rebuilding."  So they began this good work.  So whatever it is that you are building, look at the situation honestly, get the help needed, look to God for help and start building.

Tom