April 8, 2011 Renewal from Rubble

April 8
Renewal from Rubble
Read Nehemiah 4-5

Neh 4:1-2 When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, 2 and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble — burned as they are?”

THE NATIONS around Judah and Israel had it pretty good when Jerusalem was in ruins. The glory of God had departed. A strong country was gone. A beautiful city lay in ruins. The LORD’s people seemed weak and powerless. Surely they would never rise again.
But wait. What’s that sound in the distance? It is the sound of men and women working to move dirt and rubble. “Did you see that? The walls are going up? What’s happening?”
Judah’s enemies—God’s and Nehemiah’s enemies—ridiculed the rebuilding. Surely those weak Jews’ work would be weak, too. But they forgot one thing. Judah’s God was guiding them. Judah’s God was empowering them to build. Judah’s God was protecting them.
I think in their heart Sanballat and Tobiah and the others knew there would be no stopping Nehemiah and his people. Nehemiah was truly God’s man. He stayed true to God, trusting him and guiding his people as God guided him. God’s enemies would receive judgment. God’s people would receive reward.
Is your life in disarray, even a pile of rubble? Trust God to lead you to rebuilding your life in him. Be patient in the rebuilding. Stand firm against those who will doubt and attempt to derail you. There will be plenty of those. There is much more of God.


Pause and Consider: that God is so much, much more than anything that any rubble.