How do you rebuild from nearly two years of things falling apart? When every where you look is rejection, you lose your job, your health, your home, and part of your family all in one year; where do you go from there? My answer? I have no idea.
Look, I don’t have anything all figured out. I do know the start. You turn to God. I told a friend of mine not long ago that I was finally feeling hope again and it was because I can tell God is working to put my puzzle back together, I can’t tell what He is doing, but just knowing He is working is great.
The question remains, how do you rebuild a life? I guess much like anything else; one brick at a time. Oh sure, there is more to it, but basically it is hard laborious brick laying. Let’s look a little close though. For me it started to stand out in the second part of Nehemiah 2.
11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode. 13 I went out by night by the Valley Gate to the Dragon Spring and to the Dung Gate, and I inspected the walls of Jerusalem that were broken down and its gates that had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I went on to the Fountain Gate and to the King's Pool, but there was no room for the animal that was under me to pass. 15 Then I went up in the night by the valley and inspected the wall, and I turned back and entered by the Valley Gate, and so returned. 16 And the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, and I had not yet told the Jews, the priests, the nobles, the officials, and the rest who were to do the work.
17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” 18 And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work. 19 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, “What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?” 20 Then I replied to them, “The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we his servants will arise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem.”
Nehemiah knew what he was about. There would have been large notice of his arrival and attention paid to his intentions, so he waited three days. When things had calmed down Nehemiah went out at night so that his enemies wouldn’t know what he was up to and he surveyed the job.
I think any time you are looking at rebuilding, patience is key. It is tough work and slow. There are also always opponents to rebuilding; be it money, skeptics, or flat out enemies. Finally it is important to know the job ahead of you.
Nehemiah then spoke to the people. He recognized the shape they were in and called people around him with the larger focus of fixing the real problem, lack of security. He gave them their true source of encouragement and strength and he left his enemies to deal with God instead of worrying over them himself.
It has been vital for me to recognize where Jenny and I were, both the good and the bad. It has also been key to bring people around us who help us stay focused on the bigger picture, not fixing symptoms. I have had to stay focused on God as my strength and leave my discouragements at His feet for Him to confront.
It is tough, the prep work has to be done, but if God is in it, if you have the right Master Builder, then progress can be seen.
As for Jenny and I we keep looking forward…
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