MONDAY, 1 February, 2021 “Vision”

Scroll down to see and play Audio.

Good morning on this first day of February my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

When is the last time you felt you were standing on the launching pad anticipating something significant and brand new in your life? Maybe as you walked down the aisle at your graduation or perhaps your wedding? Maybe as the contractions were closer and closer and you knew a baby was about to be born? Maybe the closing date on your new home or the interview went well and you were invited into a new job? Or the day you became an ’empty nester’? Or the day you retired? Or the day you trusted Jesus to save you! Those are all precious moments of great possibilities aren’t they, and I wonder if you’ll have one this February?

In 445bc Nehemiah was having one of those moments as he stood before the most powerful man in the world, Emperor Artaxerxes and his Queen. He records the event for us in the book which bears his name, chapter 2. Courageously Nehemiah has just asked the king for some time off from his job of serving the king, to travel 1000 miles to Jerusalem and help rebuild the city wall, which has laid in ruins for 140 years, while the city and Temple have been rebuilt. No wall, of course, meant no security… does that sound familiar as you consider the migration of millions of refugees in many parts of our world today? The king’s willingness to allow Nehemiah to not only take a Sabbatical, but commission Nehemiah to spearhead this enormous project in Jerusalem, was nothing short of a huge miracle of God!

Emboldened by the miracle, do you see what Nehemiah did next? Listen to his account: “I also said to the king, ‘If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of the region so they will provide me safe passage until I arrive in Jerusalem? And may I have a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the city…?” (Nehemiah 2:7) Now as far as I know, Nehemiah was not an architect nor a builder nor did he have any experience in construction project management! But God had given Nehemiah a clear vision for this great project in answer to his 4 months of praying, in response to the report of devastation that he’d heard from Hanani, his brother. (Nehemiah 1:2) Has that ever happened to you my friend? In your agonizing prayer over a great problem, has God given you a vision for a solution? What did you do about that?

In the past two days, as we’ve begun working our way through Nehemiah’s’ remarkable story, I’ve urged you to consider this amazing truth… God heard Nehemiah’s prayer and knew his heart. God then entrusted to Nehemiah, God’s vision for Jerusalem’s wall rebuild project, and then God burdened Nehemiah with a strong desire to be part of the project, and then God worked in the king’s heart to allow Nehemiah a Sabbatical so Nehemiah could be released from his daily responsibilities and commissioned by the king to join God in this wall rebuild project! Now I urge you to think about the progression of that miraculous process… and look at your life. How often has God done exactly the same thing with you? If not, why not?

Now my friends, Nehemiah found a secret, a very important secret that helps someone join with God in these miraculous experiences. I see it in verse 8 of chapter 2. It’s as though Nehemiah is writing to you and me, calling us to see WHY all this happened the way it did. . . “Because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.” Have you developed the ability to discern when God is directly involved in practical ways in the details of your life… when God’s gracious hand is upon you? Nehemiah knew there was no logical explanation for what was happening to him… only God could make this dream become reality! So as you see in verse 9, Nehemiah evidently packed his belongings, and headed west, toward Jerusalem with official letters from the king in his pouch!

But my friends, may I ask you, when was the last time you encountered a road block which disrupted your plans, complicated the process, closed the door in your face? All the while you were confident you were following God’s lead! It seems clear Nehemiah was keeping a careful record of this remarkable experience, so his next entry in the record says: “When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Iraelites.” It happens everyday, in almost every place in our world. When God is working to accomplish good things through His people that will be helpful to society, the evil darkness rises up in opposition!

Let’s face it, Satan and the dark kingdom are working overtime to promote suffering, pain, broken hearts, broken families, corrupt governments, dysfunctional leadership everywhere in our world. So Nehemiah’s participation in God’s miracle awakened strong opposition because then and now there are people of the darkness who will always oppose any movement which is helping to promote the God honoring welfare of any society! Do you see it where you live? Have you personally experienced such opposition? How has it affected you and what have you done about it?

So what can we learn from Nehemiah? You understand the words ‘due diligence’ right? Nehemiah had never been to Jerusalem, and he was totally unknown there. He’d come on a secret mission that no one knew anything about. So the first thing he did was ‘due diligence’. He spent several days walking all through Jerusalem evaluating the situation, listening to people, praying as he walked, seeking to understand everything God wanted him to learn, so when the time was right Nehemiah would be able to cast the vision, and explain the project in a way the people would see it to be the hand of God at work among them. Look at verses 11-16 to see how Nehemiah did his ‘due diligence’. Might his tactics be helpful to you the next time you and God are working together on a significant project?!

Finally, look carefully my friends at verses 17&18 to see how Nehemiah cast the vision God had given him. He explained how God had worked in king Artaxerxes to commission Nehemiah for this project and how God had protected him in the long journey from Susa all the way to Jerusalem. Are you able to explain how God has been at work in your life, and led you to the place where you presently are, engaged in the church or business or school or projects that you are currently invested in?

Do you see the response in verse 18? “They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work.” For 140 years, the debris of the great wall of Jerusalem had laid untouched as the people lived their lives, built their homes and businesses, often I presume having to step over, or walk around large boulders that once had been part of that great wall of protection for Jerusalem. Watch that friends, for we do the same thing in our lives everyday! We ignore, walk around the debris in our lives, in our families, in our societies. What debris you ask? The debris of broken relationships, broken promises, gossip, backbiting, bitterness, anger, revenge, jealousy,…on a personal level, a family level, institutional, organizational and even governmental level!

It’s all around us, everywhere… and God is calling HIS people, in every place in the world, to be Nehemiah’s! God wants to give all of us, each of us HIS vision of what could be in the places where we all live, IF we would join with HIM in the rebuild of lives and families and societies that God wants to accomplish in 2021…do you believe that?

Do you want to be part of God’s great work in February 2021 and beyond? Have you talked with God about that lately? Have you looked closely at your own life and asked God to show you any debris that needs to be cleaned up in your life? Have you asked God to show you any debris you have caused in someone else’s life, and what actions need to be taken to clean up the debris you caused?

Here’s a new song I found that might help you consider the potential we all have to bring healing to our world, but it starts with Jesus working in our hearts, our families, our communities… doesn’t it? Enjoy the song my friends, and a special time with God today. . .

Today’s Scripture is Nehemiah 2.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).

Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.Si