Lessons Learned from the Prequel: Wall Working

“I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.  Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6:3)

We live in a world of distractions, distress, destruction, depression, depravity, etc… and the “d’s” could go on.  The enemy wants us to be so consumed with these things that we forget the TRUTH, which is, that as Christ followers, we are focused, favored, fruitful, fragrant, and FAMILY!  We are never alone! We are sons, daughters and heirs to HIS throne!  

We live on this earth for a little while and HE has good works preplanned for each of us.  HE has plans for us that glorify HIS name and further HIS Kingdom.  Nehemiah has always been one of my favorite Biblical characters because of his compassion, “Now it came about when I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven.”( Neh. 1:4), his work ethic, “And I also applied myself to the work on this wall”(Neh. 5:16), and his dedicated focus to rebuilding ruins,”I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.  Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?”(Neh. 6:3)  

I attended the Beth Moore Conference this past weekend in Atlanta and she reiterated over and over -ARISE AND BUILD!  Ephesians 2:19-22 and 1 Chron. 22 & 28 were the Scriptures where we camped.  We are the Church, Divine Masonry, held together by our Cornerstone-Jesus Christ.  Beth gave us 7 parallels (like 7 pillars-“Wisdom has built her house; she has carved her 7 pillars (Prov 9:1 ):   

1) We are summoned to be a part of building God’s Temple!

2) Our individual God-ordained works should scare our flesh to death! (If it is our destiny, it is too much for us to do it but must be done by God!)

3)God is more than with us-HIS SPIRIT IS IN US!

4)We have everything we need to succeed!

5) Our temple (we are the temple of the Holy Spirit) also rests its weight upon the Holy ground of mercy! (We were offered mercy; therefore we offer mercy-Mercy Triumphs!)

6) The stones God purchased for HIS TEMPLE are precious to HIM! (We are HIS living stones!)

7)Our dedication of God’s temple is worthy of ceremony! (As we dedicate or rededicate our lives ( we are HIS temple ), it is worthy to be noted and dated! Go public with our dedication to the KING and HIS KINGDOM!  A ceremony for our KING!)

May these morsels  of wisdom that I have shared from a weekend of feasting on HIS WORD lead you ever so hungrily to the WORD for yourself!  Feed an appetite and it makes you hungry for more!  The God of abundant life is drawing you to HIMSELF!

God placed another “Prequel” on my heart:

“Wall Working”

He had been watching in great distress, as his city was destroyed.  He was one of a very small remnant in the providence who survived the captivity and he wept as the city wall was broken down and the gates were burned with fire.  

One day he witnessed a man surveying the destruction.  He witnessed a man inspecting the wall.  That man’s name was Nehemiah.  He heard Nehemiah say to the officials,”You see the bad situation we are in, that the city is desolate and the gates are burned. Come, let us rebuild.”  Nehemiah also told them how the hand of his GOD had been favorable to him and said, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.

Although he was not an official and he was quite clumsy, he decided he too wanted to help.  He was especially captivated by Nehemiah’s assurance in his GOD.  He heard Nehemiah say,”The God of Heaven will give us success; therefore we HIS servants will arise and build.”

He watched as Nehemiah was moved by compassion.  Nehemiah’s compassion did not just lead him to tears and to giving orders to others.  Nehemiah’s compassion moved him to “move”.  Nehemiah applied himself to the work on the wall.  He watched as Nehemiah stayed focused, ignored distractions, and “stayed on the wall”.  He too wanted to be a “Wall Worker”.

He started his work with great fervor.  He was excited to be a part of something that was “constructing” and not “destructing” and he was blessed with a mentor like Nehemiah to watch and imitate; however opposition arose.  Message after message came trying to get the laborers off the wall.  Lies were told and threats were made to frighten the workers.  Although Nehemiah was not distracted and God gave him wisdom to continue the work; not everyone stayed the course.

The clumsy little worker with big dreams and good intentions got sidetracked by fear and it paralyzed him.   The more fearful he got the less work he did and eventually he sat down!  The clumsy little “worker” was no longer a “worker”.  He was a “sitter” and while sitting and watching one day, he fell off the wall!  We know him as Humpty Dumpty!

In what areas of our lives have we become “sitters” and not “workers”?  We were never meant to be bystanders.  We were meant to “Arise and Build”.  We may have great role models but if we do not participate, our good intentions will go no where.

Dear God,

Thank you for the teachings of wisdom in YOUR WORD, for the role models in Scripture and in our lives, for the Bible teachers YOU have given us and for the charge and blessing to Arise and Build!  May you continue to strengthen us and teach us, so that we may know YOU, love YOU, share YOU, walk with YOU and serve YOU by loving others!

GO GOD