Nehemiah's Vision

NEHEMIAH’S VISION

Nehemiah 2:11-20, "So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work. But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but ye have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem."

Do you have a vision, or a calling upon your life to accomplish anything for God? We must realize that anything that God gives us a vision to do will be a thing greater than we think that we can do when we begin.

God is a big God and he only has big plans but He uses small people with no plans to accomplish his work. It’s only after we begin the work by faith that the real plan and vision begins to unfold before us. When God calls us to work for him, he will equip us to do the work that he has called us to do.

Every big dream, every vision starts small and continues to grow as long as we don’t give up on it and walk away. It’s never in God’s will for his plan for our life to fail. It’s never in God’s will for the vision that he has given to us to fail to come to pass. Too many people walk away when the going gets tough and the obstacles loom larger and larger in their path.

Illustration:

Bette Nesmith had a good secretarial job in a Dallas bank when she ran across a problem that interested her. Wasn’t there a better way to correct the errors she made on her electric typewriter? Bette had some art experience and she knew that artists who worked in oils just painted over their errors. Maybe that would work for her too. So she concocted a fluid to paint over her typing errors.

Before long, all the secretaries in her building were using what she then called "MistakeOut". She attempted to sell the product idea to marketing agencies and various companies (including IBM), but they turned her down. However, secretaries continued to like her product, so Bette Nesmith’s kitchen became her first manufacturing facility and she started selling it on her own.

When Bette Nesmith sold the enterprise, the tiny white bottles were earning $3.5 million annually on sales of $38 million. The buyer was Gillette Company and the sale price was $47.5 million.

No matter whether the call of God takes you and no matter what you must do to fulfill that call upon your life, God will give you the grace to make it through and overcome. In the end, you will not be among those people that President Teddy Roosevelt called, “timid souls who know neither the thrill of victory nor the agony of defeat.”

It’s not just the unsung heroes of humanity like Bette Nesmith who face obstacles that must be overcome to achieve their dreams and fulfill the calling in their lives. Every successful person who becomes what God intends for them to be, both in the earthly manner and in spiritual matters, will face great obstacles that must be overcome.