“The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were rebuilding a Temple to the Lord, the God of Israel…Then the local residents tried to discourage and frighten the people of Judah to keep them from their work.” Ezra 4:1,4 (NLT)
Why rebuild? Why do we do really hard things for a season and for a purpose after our world has crashed down around us? Isn’t it easier to stay in the rubble and hope someone else comes along and builds it for us? Why take on this difficult, exhausting, seemingly never ending task?
As we finish up our rebuilding blueprint from Nehemiah, God actually gives us a direct answer to that question. Nehemiah 6:15b tells us that, “…they realized this work had been done with the help of the Lord our God.” Nehemiah 2:17 reminds us, “…let us rebuild this wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace.” We are to rebuild to recognize who our God is. He does not leave us in the rubble, and He can “end this disgrace” we may be feeling. We will never know what could have been or what new story He is writing or what a future of hope looks like if we do not take the time to rebuild.
As we have walked through the process of rebuilding our life, let’s review before we have one final thought.
We must grieve the damage and honestly assess the losses we have endured. We need to take time with just us and God and with His wisdom, make a plan for rebuilding-even if it is only one step at a time. We need to be aware of distractions or anyone who may have a different plan for us. We recognize rebuilding is to share the hope and beauty and restoration that only God can bring from an unnatural disaster. Elizabeth Elliot wrote a book, Suffering is Never for Nothing, and we want to find out how we can use this for His Kingdom.
Nehemiah leaves us with one last thought. When the intense time of rebuilding is over, we need to be careful not to let our guard down and fall into sin or traps we have fallen into before.
After the wall was done, the people praised the Lord and stood for three hours while His Word was read. They were excited and promised to follow His ways. Sadly, that did not last long. The temptations of the world, not having discernment in relationships, and not following God’s laws all led to the people going back to their old ways of sin. The ways that actually caused the destruction of the wall and the people taken into captivity.
Nehemiah stepped in, decisively and deliberately purged the sin from the lives of the people, and asked God for mercy.
We want to learn from this and remain free from our past. We have to stay aware of the things that will take us back to the rubble and remain rooted and steadfast in our rebuilding. We want to continue to remember where we came from and where God has brought us to and trust that He is not done writing our story.
The rebuilding chapter may be closing, but your book is not over.
He has good plans
He has good plans for me
So, I will take heart in deserts and gardens
He has good plans
He has good plans for me
If I know my Father
I know my Father has good plans
No weapon formed against me will prosper
The Lord, is my Savior
So why should I doubt my victory
Why would I question?
The rod and the staff that comforts me
He Has Good Plans
Red Rocks Worship – Good Plans (Official Live Video)
“Thank you, God, that you never leave us and You are not done with our story. Help us to remain faithful to You until we stand before You.”
For His Glory
Terrie Tollerson www.TerrieTollerson.com
TRBC Women’s Life
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