Elevate to the Next Level
“The People God Uses”
Nehemiah 1:1-4
Watch on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJZK53osJuw
Turn in your Bibles to Nehemiah 1, and stick your bible ribbon or bookmark there, and then turn to Matthew 25.
I was actually developing this teaching for our leadership earlier this month, when God spoke to my heart telling me that this message was not only for leadership, but it was for everyone who calls themselves a believer in Jesus Christ, and part of what it means to elevate to the next level.
One of the greatest needs in the church today is for people who will not only serve, but those who will also lead. That is, people who will invest themselves in the lives of others, to help them become everything God has created them to be. Basically, what I am saying is that the church needs those who will invest their time and energy in serving God by serving others.
Now, while there is no specific Scripture that says that we serve God by serving others, like there is when God said how we are to love Him through loving others, which is known as the Great Commandment. There is a passage given by Jesus as to our upcoming judgment based upon just that, our serving God through serving others.
“‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’” (Matthew 25:34-40 NKJV)
Now, those things which makes a person into someone that God uses, and while there are many, I see four examples in Nehemiah’s first actions upon hearing of the condition of Jerusalem and the Jewish people, and it’s these four things that I believe separates him, not only as a leader but as a person that God uses.
“The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. It came to pass in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the citadel, that Hanani one of my brethren came with men from Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped, who had survived the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, ‘The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.’ So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:1-4 NKJV)
As we look at this section of Nehemiah’s testimony, several things jump out as we look at this topic of being a leader and a person God uses that we need to understand and incorporate in our lives.
1. God Places People Where He Can Use Them
At this time, Nehemiah was King Artaxerxes’s cupbearer as he points out in verse 11.
Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king, but he was no slave as movies depict them as being. Instead, a cupbearer was a high position in the royal court. In fact, I think it was probably the most trusted position of them all. Daily, and multiple times a day, he put his life on the line to keep the king safe.
And so, when God needed something to be accomplished, like the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, He had His person in the right position at the right time.
Now catch this, only Nehemiah, in this high and trusted position, could command the king’s attention to hear of the Jewish plight in Jerusalem. You might say, he had the king’s ear.
We see this same thing throughout the Bible, that is, God positioning His people where He could use them.
· Joseph, who was second to Pharaoh, went through hell, but God needed him there at that time to save the Jewish people. (I’ll delve a into that in a bit.)
· David, who just happened to be delivering groceries to his brothers heard and accepted Goliath’s challenge, and through the Lord, David was able to defeat him.
God always has His people exactly where He needs them to be, so that He can use them for His kingdom purposes.
So, how can someone know if they’re in the right place at the right time? Henry Blackaby said something in his “Experiencing God” series that has always stood out to me regarding this. He said, “Watch and see where God is working and join Him.” (Henry Blackaby)
Jesus also talked about this saying, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. … Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John. 5:17, 19-20)
And so, if we’re to have the mind of Christ, especially in this area of being a leader, and a person God uses. We need to follow Jesus in how we are to go about living our lives for God, and to help others.
Jesus gives to us the way we need to start, and that is through prayer. To the churches in Revelation He says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:22)
But we need to remember that prayer is all about us having a two-way conversation with God, but one where we do more listening than talking, hence having two ears and one mouth.
And that is exactly what Nehemiah did, as He mourned, fasted, and prayed for God’s guidance, because he realized that God had placed him there at that time and for this purpose. And so, he prayed for God to give him favor with the king, and for the way that God wanted him to accomplish this goal.
Therefore, God has each of us right where He wants us for this specific time and season. In other words, God has us in the right place, in the right position, and at the right time to accomplish His kingdom business.
We just have to listen to what the Lord is saying.
Further, God knew He could trust Nehemiah because Nehemiah was found to be trustworthy. And God entrusts us with those who come through our doors, because He knows He can trust us, which leads me to the second point.
2. God Uses People He Can Trust
Nehemiah’s title of cupbearer may not be all that impressive to us, but it was back then. It was a position of great trust. Nehemiah was the one who tasted the king’s food and drink to make sure it wasn’t poisoned.
And King Artaxerxes considered Nehemiah so trustworthy that he gave him the most trusted position in the kingdom. Literally, the king entrusted Nehemiah with his life.
People sometimes mistakenly believe they need to wait for someone to ask them to get involved, and usually it revolves around the big stuff or the one-time event. But to serve in the daily mundane chores and acts of service, that’s the type of person that grabs God’s attention.
You see, those that God uses are those that can be trusted with the little things and do them with the spirit of excellence. And here’s the point, if God can’t trust us in the little things, then He’ll never use us in other areas or the bigger things.
Look at what Jesus says when we enter eternity. “Well done, good and faithful servant; (first notice what God calls us, servants) you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” (Matthew 25:23 NKJV)
Consider Jospeh, he was a slave in the household of Potiphar, but he became so trustworthy, that Potiphar put him in charge and entrusted him with everything in his household. And then, even though falsely accused and tossed into prison, he again was found faithful and trustworthy and was put in charge of the more prominent prisoners. And finally, Pharaoh himself found him trustworthy, and he was made second in charge, and ultimately the second most powerful man in the world.
Can you kind of see the direction this is going?
Can we be trusted by God? Here’s a test if we want to see. It’s in our giving the money and possessions God has given to us.
Jesus said, “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, (that is in the worldly possession and money) who will commit to your trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:11 NKJV)
When I look at this, what King David said really stands out to me. He said unto the Lord God, “Who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You.” (1 Chronicles 29:14 NKJV)
And I know that giving is a stumbling block for many, but what I have learned and experienced in my own life, and what I have heard from others in their testimonies when they follow the way God has laid out in His word, then the promise that Jesus gives in Matthew 6:33 will be ours.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV)
When we truly understand this, a Teutonic shift takes place in how we think, for we no longer have a mind centered upon the world, instead, we now have a mind that is not only centered on Christ, but even better, we have the mind of Christ.
The world and all the stuff are temporary, while God’s kingdom and His righteousness are eternal. We’re pilgrims passing through. And as pilgrims, we know that death ushers us into God’s glorious presence and an eternity with Him.
And so, Jesus gives to us our priorities, and that is God’s kingdom and righteousness. Everything else comes after that.
And if I could add one additional thought, and that is, if we want God to get supernaturally involved in our finances, then we have to follow His way in how we handle what He has so graciously given to us.
3. God Uses People Who are Sensitive to Other’s Needs
Nehemiah recognized that the people were defenseless because the wall surrounding Jerusalem was broken down and the gates burned leaving the people vulnerable to attack.
It’s no different within the church today. Believers in Christ are being ripped off by Satan right and left. There’s hardly a week that goes by where I am not hearing about someone who has been ripped off. And that’s only because it’s being reported. How many more are there who remain silent out of embarrassment or hurt.
Seeing the condition of the people, Nehemiah sat down and wept. And hopefully we can catch the feeling of how what was breaking the heart of God was breaking Nehemiah’s heart.
When we see the condition of this world and its inhabitants, and how unrecognizable they are to what God created, rivers of water should be running down our faces over the sin of our day and the condition of this world and of people’s lives, not to mention the overall condition of the church.
This is what happened when two struggling Salvation Army officers felt as if nothing worked as they tried to get people to hear the gospel message and repent. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army said to them, “Try tears.” And when they did revival broke out.
And so, are our hearts breaking as we see the broken condition of those who come through the doors of the church, those that the Holy Spirit has invited to get themselves healed and encouraged.
Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision, said it this way. “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” (Bob Pierce)
God has called all of us to serve, to be servants, and to take care of each other, that is, take care of His flock. You see, God has entrusted His church, that is, all of us, to care for each other, to love on each other. And Jesus said this is the way we show our love for God in the Great Commandment.
Further, our hearts should be moved with compassion over the needs of others. Therefore, we need to be sensitive to their needs, and this should compel us to get involved.
In the seventh chapter of Luke’s Gospel there’s a very powerful scene. As Jesus was approaching the city of Nain, a large procession of mourners were carrying the body of a widow’s only son. Seeing her obvious grief, it says that Jesus had compassion on her (Luke 7:13). He touched the wooden slab called a ‘bier’ that the young man was carried upon and said, “Arise,” and the young man sat up and began to speak.
The word that is used for “compassion” is very telling and instructive if we truly want to be followers of Christ. While it’s the word for having pity or feeling sympathy, it goes much deeper. It comes from within the very bowels of a person, often referred to as the seat of emotions.
Jesus felt the pain and anguish of that mother’s loss down in His guts and met her at her deepest need.
Every day God places people in our lives that are consumed with pain. Maybe a friend or neighbor has a serious need, or they’ve had someone closed to them die, or an illness has struck. Maybe it involves those who are caught up in what’s going on in the world.
In fact, I believe that most everyone in here today is feeling pain in some way or another over what is happening in their lives, or in the lives of someone they know or love. And it’s producing in some form depression, despair, and discouragement.
And what I see is that God is calling us to stop being so busy with our own lives and respond to the needs of others with this sort of “from the bowels,” that is, from our guts, compassion.
4. God Uses People Who are Available
When problems arose, and when Nehemiah found out, he didn’t say, “Let other’s do it. I’ve got it comfy here in the palace and besides that’s what I pay my tithe for.”
Instead, what he basically said was, “Here am I, send me,” which is what Isaiah said when he was called out by God.
What is interesting about this is that Nehemiah wasn’t even a carpenter. But God still chose him even though he didn’t possess the skills for that job. But God had given him organizational skills which became abundantly evident in that he organized the people and had that wall built in record time (52 days) in hostile conditions.
Now, we might say, “I’m not trained or qualified. I don’t speak well.” But God isn’t looking for our ability, otherwise men like Moses or David would never have been chosen. Instead, God is looking for our availability.
If our heart is to be that servant, then God will give us everything we need like He did with Nehemiah. God needs His people to be willing, able, and ready to serve.
Jesus said, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Luke 10:2 NKJV)
So, will we respond like Nehemiah and Isaiah saying, “Here am I, send me,” or “Here am I, use me.” Will we say, “Send me Lord, use me even though I am frail and unqualified, use me for Your kingdom purposes.”
Conclusion
God uses ordinary people, people like you and me, to do extraordinary things for His Kingdom.
God is bringing all sorts of people through these doors, people who have specifically been invited by the Holy Spirit.
You see, I believe that God has brought and is bringing everyone here to help them heal from the wounds inflicted upon them by this world. He’s sending people here to be encouraged, to come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to grow in their faith, and to hear from God and from His word as to how He wants to use them for His kingdom purposes.
In other words, He is bringing people like you and me, because He brought us here as well. He has brought us here to invest ourselves into other peoples’ lives and to help them be everything God has called them to be.
And so, God uses people like you and me, people He has place here, at this time and for such a purpose. Further, He has us here because He trusts us to be faithful and make a difference for His kingdom. That we would be a people who are sensitive to the needs of others and who will serve God by serving them. And who will be available and say, “Here am I, use me.”
