NEHEMIAH 2:17 AMP
Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation that we are in–how Jerusalem is desolate and lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
I have has the opportunity to visit Jerusalem 3 times and each trip has been amazing. One of the things that amazed me on each trip was the walls around Jerusalem. When you hear of walls, you would probably think about the size of walls that are around your house. The walls around Jerusalem are massive and the stones are equally huge.
When you think about it, Nehemiah was quite ok where he was. He was the king’s cupbearer but when he hears about his people who had escaped and survived the captivity and how the walls of Jerusalem lay desolate, he gets a burden and goes into prayer. He who is in captivity gets a burden for those who escaped captivity so much so that not only does he pray but he risks his own life to do something about it. One man in captivity thinking of rebuilding the walls of a city how crazy is that? How will he do it, he has no resources, where will he get the workers? Will the king allow him to go back home or would the mention of the idea be his death sentence? I guess these questions were not such a huge concern or hindrance to stop him from doing what he felt needed to be done.
How many times have we had a burden for something but because it did not directly affect us and we did not have the resources to get the job done then we gave excuses and did nothing?
Nehemiah got the job done in a mere 52 days, absolutely unbelievable. He was able to rally people behind his vision and many leadership lessons are derived from his experience. His burden was not for himself, it was to benefit others and God gave him all the favor he needed to get the job done. I guess one of the reasons many do not step out to do great things for the kingdom of heaven is because we only think about ourselves.
He had a burden, he went into prayer, then he did something and God blessed what he did.
Have you begun building the walls or are you stuck on giving excuses why it cannot be done?
