Revision: Winning Life Strategies, Part II
Nehemiah 2: 10-20
In the middle of the 17th century, England was in turmoil. King Charles I was beheaded. Anglican churches were being closed; Presbyterians were being persecuted. In the midst of all this, Sir Robert Shirley built a church. The plaque on the church read: “In the year 1653, when all things throughout the land were demolished or profaned, Sir Robert Shirley built this church, whose singular praise is this: to have done the best of things in the worst of times.” It was the worst of times to do the best of things in Jerusalem. The city had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army in 579 BC. The political, religious, economic and spiritual leaders were taken into captivity. For over 125 years, the city laid in ruins and the people were despondent. Then God called Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah has been called to do the best of things in the worst of times, to begin rebuilding the the walls of Jerusalem and ultimately he lives of its people. It is a monumental, God-sized task.
In our Scripture today, Nehemiah has left Persia (modern day Iran) and traveled for more than 2 months and 750 miles to Jerusalem. Today, we continue learning life strategies when encountering God-sized problems. The first, and it sounds counterintuitive, is rest. When Nehemiah arrives, after the long journey, he immediately begins to rest. After such a long trip, he needed to get the mind and body refreshed for the challenges which laid ahead. Now, we don’t know for sure what he did in those three days. But as we learned three weeks ago, the book of Nehemiah is filled with prayer because Nehemiah’s life and ministry was centered in prayer. Nehemiah’s rule of action seems to have been: first pray, then act, then pray again, then act, then pray again. It’s a safe bet to that Nehemiah spent this time of rest seeking God’s guidance about his next step. It was an opportunity to refocus and get the needed perspective and direction of God. In light of such a daunting task, he goes to God in prayer. Abraham Lincoln said: “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of those about me seemed insufficient…”
When we’re faced with a God-sized problem, is your tendency to work and labor until the problem is resolved or to go to seek God’s guidance and rest. From Sept. 1-Dec. 15, 2005, I worked every day gutting and rebuilding my house from early in the morning until dark. I had friends who kept telling me to take a break and step back for a few days. Even my father in law told me I should come to his house for Thanksgiving. But all I could think of was the Dec. 15 deadline when Giovanna had to be back to work or she would lose her job. And I nearly killed myself. I paid the price physically losing 15 pounds. I paid the price mentally because I was exhausted. My family paid the price emotionally as I had nothing to offer them when they returned. And I paid the price spiritually, as my devotional time with God completely stopped. We need to remember to rest in the midst of God-sized tasks so we’ll have the resources and guidance to do God’s work.
Second is survey the problem or challenge. After his time of rest and prayer, Nehemiah walked the ruins and assessed the damage and the amount of work which was going to be involved. He was determined to know the challenge and scope which laid before him. So he investigated the situation. Note Nehemiah’s tactics in this: he goes out at night, and only a few know what he is doing. It’s a time for discretion. There is no need to arouse a lot of unneeded talk. What he discovers in this evening venture is that things are really bad. The need is desperate need and the task is overwhelming. There is ruin everywhere. It is so bad, he can’t even get all the way around the southern part of the wall. This is HUGE! Remember the city of Jerusalem was not only decimated but also burnt to the ground. A historian said that explosions from the fire could be heard for more than 5 miles away. What happens is that when rocks are heated to extreme temperatures, the water in those rocks is heated up and finally explode so that they become like shrapnel. Now this debris from the wall and the city had laid there for almost 150 years. How many people road by that destruction and said, There’s no way. But Nehemiah was sets out to find a solution. But before Nehemiah ever started his work on rebuilding the wall, he had to know and understand what he was up against..
Third, become a problem solver. There are 5 characteristics of effective problem solvers. First, they’re are proactive, not reactive. Nehemiah doesn’t panic. Instead, he begins to look for a plan in how to rebuild the walls. Reactive people always have an excuse list: “It’s not my fault! It can’t be done! It’s too big! It’s more than I can handle.” Everybody has challenges in overcoming any issue. But proactive people see the problem and begin looking for solutions. Nehemiah decides instead to take the problem head on and plan for it.
Second, problem solvers are team builders. “T E A M stands for – Together Everyone Achieves More.” “None of us is as strong as all of us.” Nehemiah didn’t just set out by himself but the Scripture says with a few others. From the very beginning, he enlisted the help of others. He knew he needed help to accomplish this work of God. He took 3 steps to recruit the people (1) he asked the people to see what he saw (the ruined wall), that is, reality (2) he then asked them to own the work, "Let us rebuild" (it’s your wall too) and (3) it’s God’s mission and idea (not mine) and it is He who will give us the victory. Nehemiah began to share the vision with those who were there and challenged them to join in the rebuilding. He does so by centering this call in their faith. Someone has said, "Faith can move mountains, but don’t be surprised if God hands you a shovel." Exercise Your Faith And the people replied, “Let us start rebuilding.”
There was a statue of Jesus, whose arms were extended, at the cross-roads in the French countryside. A fierce battle occurred there during WW I and the hands of the statue were blown away in the fighting. After, someone placed a plaque on the pedestal: “Christ has no hands but your hands.” Nehemiah knows the walls will not get rebuilt unless he puts his hands to work and enlists the hands of others. Nehemiah’s story reveals there are four hands involved in any rebuilding project. First is the hand of God. (v 18) God’s hand was on the rebuilding of the wall long before Nehemiah showed up in Jerusalem or even before God called Nehemiah to rebuild. Again, remember Nehemiah’s rule of action: pray first, then act, then pray again and then act. In other words, he continued to involve the hand of God and keep him involved. For he knew he couldn’t do it without God. “We can do everything through the Lord who gives us strength (Phil. 4:13). Second is the hand of unbelievers. King Artaxerxes of Persia had no vested interest in Jerusalem, yet Nehemiah recognized he needed his help (v. 18). The king gave Nehemiah letters of safe passage, lumber (2:7-8), horses as well as soldiers to guarantee safe passage. Third is the outside believers. We are often strengthened and assisted, not by our own power, but by the hand of an outsider. Ray Varnado of Algiers UMC told me the story recently of their church struggling financially and ending the year $25,000 in the hole. In the midst of all of that, all of the stained glass windows in the sanctuary have to be replaced at a cost of $95,000. Ray was at his wits end. But then he got a call after the New Year from a man outside the church who had heard of their need. He said, My wife and I prayed over this all weekend and I just want you to know that we’re going to drop a check by today for $25,000 to help the church out. Fourth is the hands of inside believers..When Nehemiah told the people about the hand of his gracious God and the king’s generosity, they didn’t pull out their lawn chairs to watch the wall go up. No, they said, “Let us start rebuilding” This includes Nehemiah but also the men he enlisted on his scouting mission and every man, woman and child who helped rebuild the walls. If you really want to be a problem solver you need to be a team builder.
Third, problem solvers are committed to doing the right thing, rather than the popular thing. No one expected the city could be rebuilt. It had laid tin ruins for 150 years. And some didn’t think it should be rebuilt. In other words, it definitely wasn’t the popular thing to do. Look at all the opposition Nehemiah received. That resistance escalated from just bad mouthing Nehemiah to the threat of military resistance. We need to realize that God is a God who wants to do the right thing. Most people aren’t going to agree or want to move forward. Problem solvers are committed to doing the right thing, not the expected thing or the popular things.
Fourth (vs17), problem solvers own reality. “You see the trouble we are in, Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire.” Too often we live in denial not claiming the situation for what it really is. Or we get so used to the problem that it becomes the accepted norm. How many years of levees inspections went by and even though there were warnings and whistle blowers, the Corps of Engineers still did nothing to fix the problem. You can’t wait until a hurricane is bearing down on the city before you start fixing the levees. You can’t wait until you are on the brink of divorce before you go see a counselor. You have to name the situation, claim the broken walls of our lives, and the gravity and breadth of it, before anything can ever be done to heal it. Problem solvers are not blamers. Did you notice how Nehemiah uses “we” language? Problem solvers don’t put the blame on others, they just focus on finding a solution to current reality.
Fifth, problem solvers activate faith in action. Verse 17 “Come let us rebuild.”. There are times when you just need to act. When the Twin Spans was torn up by Hurricane Katrina, highway officials worked feverishly for three months to repair them so traffic could flow once again. But that was not the solution. New bridges were needed. Rather than go through the usual process of three years of design and environmental studies, they have used a new process called design build. As they are building the bridge, they are designing it. They aren’t letingt the design process slow down construction. So what would have taken 6-8 years to build will take half the time. There’s just times when you need to act. The same is true spiritually. If you hear the word of God and don’t immediately act on it, then your faith is dead and God is not going to bless you or resource you. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done. You may be the worst reprobate in the room but if you step out in faith when God calls and act on it then God is going to get behind you, resource you and bless you. You need to be proactive and not reactive.
Lastly, expect opposition and obstacles. When God who is going to do a new thing, resistance will arise. It’s not a matter of if but when. People aren’t going to agree, don’t want to change and won’t want to move forward. Three people rise in opposition to Nehemiah: Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem. Sanballat was the governor of Samaria and Nehemiah would have had to show his credentials to him as he passed through. Tobiah was the governor of Ammon, and was definitely in cahoots with Sanballat. Geshem is an Arab who likely controlled the lucrative trade route surrounding Jerusalem. So what we have here, simply, is a power struggle. Sanballat to the north, Tobiah to the east and Geshem to the south. As they got wind of the rebuilding, they mock Nehemiah and the people of Israel, ridicule them and question their motives. They even accuse them of rebelling against the king.
But that under no uncertain terms was Nehemiah going to let their opposition distract them from doing what God had called them to do. He stands on God’s promise in a day of trouble,. “He will keep us safe in His dwelling” (Ps. 27:5). Those that fight against us will not overcome us, God will rescue us (Jer. 1:19). Our eyes will see the defeat of adversaries, our ears will hear the rout of foes (Ps. 92:11). A paradox exists. When we are ridiculed, it affirms we are doing God’s will. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31). Nehemiah proclaimed that God would give them success (v. 20) and warned the mockers that they would have no claim in the Lord’s victory. When you’re on God’s team, you are a vital part of His plan. If you act on the word of God as it comes to you, instead of sitting on the word of God, then Jesus will be in you and do through you everything you read about in the Bible and more. So that one ordinary life literally can impact 100’s of people and sometimes, even thousands in a single lifetime. You are called to go serve God’s people. Follow me, Jesus says, in rebuilding the city of New Orleans.
A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared. The Lord told the man that He had work for him to do and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might. The man did this, day after day. For many years he toiled from sun up to sun down, his shoulders set squarely against the cold massive surface of the unmoving rock pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the man’s mind, “You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn’t budged. Why kill yourself over this? You are never going to move it.” The man began to believe that the task was impossible and that he was a failure and he felt discouraged and disheartened. “Why kill myself over this?” he thought. “I’ll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort and that will be good enough.” And he planned to do this until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled thoughts to the Lord. “Lord,” he said, “I have labored long and hard in your service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by even half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?” The Lord responded compassionately, “My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you have done. Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed, but is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back is sinewy and brown, your hands are callused from constant pressure, and your legs have become massive and hard. Through opposition you have grown much and your abilities surpass that which you used to have, yet you haven’t moved the rock. Your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. You have done this. “Now, my friend, I will move the rock.” Our task is to be faithful to the call of God in rebuilding a city, people’s homes and their lives. The work has been slow at best, palatial at worst but we know this is God’s will and He will take care of the rest.
BENEDICTION: Move forward…and don’t let the comfort of your present situation hold you back; instead embrace God’s agenda for you and for the city. Move forward…and don’t be overwhelmed by the size of the task; because if it is bigger than you and it is on your heart, God is probably in it so you can do it together (remember that it is not too big for him). Move forward…and don’t be delayed by the complaints; if you are doing God’s will, Satan will throw obstacles in the way; but do not fear, because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. Now may the God of peace equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
