The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.” (Isaiah 35:1-4 NIV
There was a man once who had a deep heart of faith, even though he lived in a pagan culture. He had an important and influential role in the king’s court, yet his heart was for YHWH and his people.
The people had fought for and entered the Promised Land YHWH had given them, but their bad choices and deeply sinful kings had led to YHWH allowing them to be conquered by and exiled to a foreign nation. For decades the faithful among YHWH’s special people remembered what they had had, even as they lived life in a foreign pagan nation. In this setting Nehemiah grew up and became cupbearer to the pagan king.
A previous king had allowed some of those exiles to return to their homeland and begin to rebuild life in the holy city of Jerusalem. The work was difficult, and even more so because of the opposition by neighboring leaders. Finally his brother brought a report to Susa from Jerusalem that broke his heart.
“Those who survived the exile… are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” (Nehemiah 1:3, NIV)
Nehemiah was so grieved he wept, fasted, prayed, and mourned for several days, even though he had never even been to Jerusalem. He knew that Jerusalem was the place of the Temple, where God’s name was honored among the nations, and that the city was a symbol of YHWH’s covenant with the people of Israel. Just as missionaries may have a spiritual “burden” for a specific but unseen country, Nehemiah was grieved to hear this place chosen by God was in such brokenness.
Through God’s favor, the king allowed Nehemiah to go to Jerusalem to help rebuild the walls and gates, and even sent supplies with him for the job.
The job did not go well.
Enemies attacked, so the builders had to build with one hand, but carry a defensive weapon in the other.
Other enemies used the arts of deep fakes and rumor to threaten Nehemiah’s life and send lies to the king in Susa.
Nehemiah continued leading the efforts to build the wall, and eventually they prevailed.
Perhaps there is a spiritual or physical “wall” in your life that God has called you to build. Parenting. Starting a business. Impacting a community with your ministry. A “build” can be in a number of ways, but if it is something God has called you to do, you can expect there to be opposition from the enemy of our souls. Whether that opposition takes the form of lack of funds, drought of help, miscommunication, persecution, or even physical threats, it is not fun.
Nehemiah shows us how to persevere in the building process, as he discerns which “helpers” are authentic and which are sent to disrupt the work. He also discerns that some threats are really just deep fakes and propaganda.
They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.” (Nehemiah 6:9 NIV)
Nehemiah discerned, prayed, and then kept going.
Using our Holy Spirit – led discernment, we, too, can know who to believe. God will strengthen us for the hard times as we build. And, eventually, we can celebrate the successful completion of what we are called to build.
Strong God,
Thank you for the stories of brave men and women like Nehemiah who serve as examples of how to persevere in hard times. We pray you will give us strength, wisdom, and discernment so we can run with perseverance the race you have set before us, and complete the building you have planned for our lives. We pray this in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV)