Monday, September 28, 2026

              Nehemiah is known in the Bible as a builder.  He led the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem at the time of Israel’s return to the land following exile.  This was no small feat either practically or spiritually for Israel.  His name means “the LORD comforts.”  What a great name!  He was entrusted with great responsibility but encountered great opposition to his work of leading the rebuilding project. In Nehemiah 4:6, we discover this simple statement, “So, we rebuilt the wall.”  Nothing more than that.  We rebuilt the wall.  These five words are written rather matter-of-factly.  They are written as a mission that has been both received and completed.  There is a lesson in this simple statement that can speak to us even today.  Being a follower of Christ often means we simply and immediately do what He has entrusted us to do.
            There could be an area of your life where you are struggling with obedience or faithfulness.  You know what is right.  You agree with what is right.  Yet, you struggle to do what is right or to say the right words.  Obedience is not always easy.  But it is usually straightforward enough for us to know what the Lord expects of us in a given setting or matter.  God does not trick us or take delight in confusing us.  Nehemiah had every imaginable reason to suspend or even stop the work of rebuilding.  Yet, he continued.  He turned a deaf ear to naysayers and those who were trying to persuade him to quit.  He reminded his co-workers to stay on task in 4:14 when he said, “Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome.” Remembering the Lord still works today.  Remember where He is at work.  Remember what He has made you to be.  Remember the work that He has entrusted to your hands.  Remembering the Lord each day helps us to remember what He has for us to do or to be.    
            Nehemiah served the Lord with diligence and even dogged determination.  He was not going to walk away from what the Lord had given Him to do.  When the opposition seemed to reach a crescendo near the end of Nehemiah 4, this courageous man wrote, “we all returned to the wall, each to our own work” (4:15b).  Note the word “returned.”  We can come back to the Lord.  We can come back to the work He has given us to do.  We can come back to Him in obedience and service.  Though we may have failed in some way, we can come back to Him.  Duties we may have abandoned, shirked or handled half-way can be taken up again with renewed conviction, dedication and faithfulness.  The enemy would love to convince us that we are damaged goods and that one failure means a lifetime of failure.  Not true at all.  Nehemiah inspires us to get back to what God has set aside for us to do.
            When Nehemiah faced additional opposition and opponents in Nehemiah 6, he prayed, “now strengthen my hands” (6:9b).  That four-word prayer is one that we could pray each day for ourselves or for those who had asked for our prayers.  Ask God to strengthen your hands for anything He has committed to you.  Ask God to strengthen the hands of teachers, pastors, ministers, servants and leaders in the church.  God does not limit His calling and commissioning to the equipped and capable alone.  Rather, He equips, qualifies and makes capable those whom He has called.  One way God does this is through prayer—our prayers and even the prayers of those people we have enlisted and asked to pray for us.
            As you start a new week, think about how God may be leading you to obey or serve Him.  Think of the doors that God has opened for you but you have yet to pass through these doors.  Think of actions and words that God has seared into your heart to do or speak, yet you have left these things to grow cold and unattended.  Be devoted as Nehemiah was devoted.  Yield yourself to the Lord and serve Him.  Be open to serving the Lord in new ways rather than rolling out the same old ways day after day.  Be open to changes and newness that God may want to bring to your life and fight the temptation just to have things your way because they are comfortable and familiar to you.  The familiar things that bring you comfort may be obstacles to others coming to the Lord or the work that God would like to do around you.  Let God’s Word encourage you in the face of the world’s discouragement and hostility.  Take some time to read Nehemiah and let this ancient builder instruct and inspire you to live obediently for the Lord in these days and times.  Have a great Monday!