Nobody But God

Nehemiah 2:17, 18 - Nehemiah 6:15, 16

It Was Nobody But God

When something happens, we want to know the outcome. We don’t you want me

to take all day. We want the details, so hurry up and make your point. And that

goes for every part of our lives, even at a time like this. Even right now, you want

the message to speed up, get to the point and let’s go home. But when it comes to

the things of God, we must go thru the process. Back in the day, they used to sing

about You Can’t Hurry God, Oh no, You just have wait, we have to trust Him and

give Him Time, No matter How long it takes, because He’s a God that You Can’t

Hurry, He’ll Be there, You Don’t Have to Worry, But He May Not Come When

You Want Him, but He’s right on time.

I just believe that somebody here today is dealing with a challenge, and you want

to know, how long it will take before your situation changes. You want to know,

how long will it take for you to do what you want to do? HOLD UP. STOP RIGHT

THERE. PUMP YOUR BRAKES, SLOW DOWN AND PULL OVER. The

question to ask ourselves is, what WE WANT TO DO, is it God, or is it just a good

idea? Is it for self promotion, or is the desire motivated out of genuine concern for

something greater than ourselves?

These are questions for all of us to consider. In the text, we find a man named

Nehemiah that went thru some of the very same things, but in the process, he

recognizes, and he comes to understand, that despite the desires of his heart,

despite challenge that he would face, in the end, IT WAS NOBODY BUT GOD.

From last week’s lesson, in Chapter 1, Nehemiah received the bad news of how

life is going in his homeland, Jerusalem. He knows that the temple has been

rebuilt, but the wall surrounding the temple is still broken down. To have a temple,

without a wall, left the city unprotected and shameful. That was not a good thing.

After Nehemiah got over his time of sadness, his level of deep concern kicked in.

He had to do something about it, but his first course of action came thru His

allegiance to God, and thru prayer and fasting. It was a time for him to

acknowledge who God was to him, and to seek God’s direction. He confessed the

sins of his ancestors, as well as his own sins. He remembered the promise made to

Moses and God honored His promise in that IF, they transgressed, they would be

scattered abroad among the nations. But IF they returned to God, He would bring

them together, to the chosen place, where God set His Name. Nehemiah

committed himself to REBUILD THAT WALL! Is there anybody, in the house

this morning, that’s ready to rebuild. Are you ready to partner with God to fix that

which is broken? It may not be a wall, but you know what it is, and whatever it is,

God IS ABLE. When HE brings it to pass, it won’t be out of our own strength, it

won’t be you money, it wont be your education, it won’t be you colleagues,

confidants, comrades or constituents. It will be NOBODY BUT GOD.

As time moves on, Nehemiah continues in his commitment and his window of

opportunity opened, but he had to take a RISK. He had to seize the moment. He

exercised his FAITH. He had to make his request known before the king, with

CONVICTION and COURAGE. This is a clear indication of growth. That’s what

God is looking for. People that are willing to go against the grain. People who are

ready to break out of the box, because we’ve been in the box, long enough.

People who are ready to come out of the can, because the pressure is tight and we

can’t even MOVE. People who are COMMITED enough, CONVICTED enough

COURAGEOUS enough and CRAZY enough, to trust GOD and to take a RISK,

in order to do something that failed the last time. When we get to that point in our

walk with the Lord, that we TRUST HIM enough, to face our challenges, then our

witness will change, from the same witness that we’ve held on to since the 1970’s.

CHANGE WILL COME, and NOW, the testimony is clearly evident, that down

thru the years, God’s been good to me. IT WAS NOBODY BUT GOD.

Nehemiah finds favor in the king’s sight, which was a pagan king by the way, and

he receives everything that was necessary to get the job done. He had clearance to