Often, we hear of people having great opportunities whether by luck or intentionality but over the last year I have learned that divine opportunities are often because of alignment which is usually as a result of obedience and often for a greater purpose.  The bible says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev 3:20). A powerful scripture speaking to how Christ always reaches out and knocks at the door of our hearts hoping we take Him up on his offer for fellowship and relationship. An invitation and opportunity to build, re-build and co-create with Him.

The bible shows us many examples of people who took God up on His offer for a divine opportunity of building with Him and one such person many of us know about is Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king.  The inspiration for the blog today is from the story of Nehemiah (1-3) which I would like for us to view in two parallels, that of Nehemiah as well as that of Jerusalem, the city whose walls were in shambles and its gates had been burned with fire (Neh 1:3)

The book of Nehemiah opens with Nehemiah in Babylon, living a good life, with a great job being the king’s cupbearer.  A cupbearer was a high-ranking official in the palace, in charge of serving the king and guarding against any initiatives to try and poison the king. So, the cupbearer would have been a very close person to the king, someone who the king would even confide in, someone trustworthy and loyal with great exposure.

The bible tells us; Nehemiah gets a visit from one of his brothers and enquires about the state of his fellow country man and the city of Jerusalem. He is saddened to hear that things are not great, the people are in trouble and the city walls are broken down with its gates burned with fire. Nehemiah, feeling troubled and sorrowful, decides to seek the Lord because he was burdened by the news.

A few months later, the bible tells us that Nehemiah was doing his usual job but still burdened by the news of what was happening back at home. As he walked to serve the king his wine on this particular day, the king noticed he was sad and asked him what was troubling him. He then explained his dilemma and how it was eating at him.  The king responded by asking “what is it you want?” (Neh 2:4). Nehemiah wasted no time responding, he had a list of things he wanted. He asked for time off to go home and rebuild (leave or sabbatical), he asked for a travel letter from the “embassy” for ease of travel and lastly for the king to secure him resources to re-build from one of his royal parks. The bible says, “And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests” (Neh 2:7). His request was granted by the king because of God’s gracious hand.

Fast forward to when Nehemiah arrived to start the project, he said “I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days I set out during the night (strategy) with a few others (smaller team). I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart (mission or purpose) to do for Jerusalem.” (Neh 2:11-12).  Nehemiah then took the time on his own to assess the extent of the ruin in Jerusalem, when he was done with the assessment he went back to a larger community to congregate them towards the vision of rebuilding with a full strategy and plan which was backed up by knowledge based on his assessment. Like with any other big project there will always be pessimists and so even in the case of Nehemiah there were pessimists who tried to discourage this great work but like a man with a vision from God, Nehemiah was not moved by these pessimists. When they tried to deter him and water down his plan, he reminded them who the vision carrier was and said “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.” (Neh2:20).

Fast forward again to Nehemiah 3, where the actual work happens, the rebuilding of the walls. The chapter is a beautiful symbiotic journey of a great team working together to rebuild based on the different skills and talent, positioned in areas where their capabilities and strengths could be used to rebuild Jerusalem. The bible says, “Eliashib the high priest and his fellow priests went to work and rebuilt the Sheep Gate, while the men of Jericho built the adjoining section, and Zakkur son of Imri built next to them.” (Neh 3:1-2). We see this throughout the chapter, different people, repairing and rebuilding different sections according to their allocations.

Key Lessons to Learn from Nehemiah as well as Jerusalem (the Builder and the Building)

Nehemiah – The Builder

Nehemiah was positioned at the palace for a purpose, much like Moses was positioned for a different purpose at the Egyptian palace and the key observations we can learn or make from him are:

  • Nehemiah knew God, he had a relationship with God. He moved with God through fasting and prayer. The first thing he did when he was bothered was to seek the Lord.
  • He was also a trustworthy person, we see this in how he was entrusted with the job of being a king’s cupbearer, also in the way God entrusted him with the vision of rebuilding.
  • Faithfulness and waiting upon God, the period between Nehemiah praying for God to intervene and the time he speaks to the King is about three to four months after his fasting and prayer. This is a great reminder for us living in the generation of instant gratification to be faithful in serving while we wait upon the Lord.
  • There is also something powerful about the roles Nehemiah plays, a helper to the king, a leader to his country man and an intercessor before God. This shows humility in His character.
  • Nehemiah was positioned at the palace to learn from the king, a leader with experience of building nations through strategies, resources and influence.
  • He was positioned at the palace for connection and network, almost like the saying “your network is your net worth”. He would need the influence of the king to move around freely and to get access to resources he otherwise would not have.
  • Finally, Nehemiah worked with teams but had discretion. He knew what to share in what audience and what required him to do alone as he prepared to re-build. Not everything was for the public.

Jerusalem the Building (Wall)

Jerusalem is a city and its walls were ruined, city walls are structures, so they are unable to ruin themselves. Something happened to the city walls and the people but for this purpose we will focus on the walls.  Here are some observations and lessons we can learn from the position of Jerusalem:

  • Jerusalem walls did not ruin themselves and yet they were ruined and needed external help to rebuild them.
  • The external help came because of observations made by those who cared about the state of the city.
  • When Nehemiah did his assessment of the city walls, he made note of all the areas within the city walls that needed rebuilding and gathered a team together based on the need. The walls on their own may not have been able to identify the team required to rebuild them.
  • The walls needed a team of different experts with a variety of skills set working together to go up back to its position.
  • A wall can be a dead situation that is unable to revive itself but with the right helper(s), it can rise to its full potential.
  • Finally, Jerusalem was a receiver of help, but later it would be the protector of the city.  Do not be afraid to be vulnerable and accept help. Help is there to make you better.

Personally, I am encouraged for different seasons, I pray that I may recognize my seasons of being Nehemiah and position myself for learning and doing, for using my influence for purpose and to see beyond myself for every door that opens.  I pray that I may also recognize my season of vulnerability and rest, accept help and accept those who are sent to pour into me as I re-build. I pray that I may always remember that the broken walls can be rebuilt and others can find safety in them, even after fire when the rebuilding is done they can be a place of safety.

Whether you find yourself in Nehemiah or the walls of Jerusalem in this season, I pray for you to find grace to position yourself with God for whatever the season requires of you because God’s gracious hand can do for you what it did for Nehemiah.

Be Blessed.  

Happy #ThirstyThursday #QuenchMyThirst

Thank God, Jesus pursued me.

LM

Lungie@quenchmythirst.life