Thoughts on Nehemiah 1-2

Today’s reading: Nehemiah 1-2; John 3

I think it’s worth realizing that there was no real reason for Nehemiah to take responsibility for the work in Jerusalem as he did.

Nehemiah was not someone important in Israel. He was not a leader or elder of the community, or even someone necessarily noteworthy. He had a trusted position before King Artaxerxes (he was his cupbearer), but that meant nothing about power or position among his people. It was not a foregone conclusion that Nehemiah should or would do anything about the situation in Jerusalem. Nobody had ever thought, or would ever think, “Why hasn’t Nehemiah done something about this yet??” But still, when Nehemiah hears about the situation and feels burdened for Jerusalem, he chooses to take responsibility and work to see the need met.

How often do we hear about or recognize a situation or need, feel burdened about it, and think, “Why hasn’t anyone done anything about this yet?” or, “Why isn’t God doing anything about this?” And how often do we stop there? When it’s not clearly something we “should” be taking care of, we marvel that others aren’t doing anything and then we move on, but too seldom do we decide to take responsibility for things that are not clearly “my job.”

The fact of the matter is that, as Christians, the Bible calls us the Body of Christ. We are the Lord’s hands and feet in this world to build and advance His kingdom. So when we ask, “Why hasn’t God done anything about this?” we are really recognizing a need that He wants His people involved in solving. Maybe the Lord has put that burden on our hearts, not because He wants us to look around and complain that nobody else is doing something, but because He wants us to do something.

When we feel a burden, like Nehemiah did, it can feel overwhelming to think that maybe God wants us to do something about it, because often we don’t even know where to start. But a burden is not a vision or plan, and a vision or plan without action accomplishes nothing.

When Nehemiah heard about the state of Jerusalem he didn’t immediately have a clear plan in mind to go execute on, but instead took his burden to the Lord in prayer and fasting for a long time. Through that time of prayer, the Lord gave Nehemiah a vision for seeing the need met, but that was still not a practical plan. And yet, when Artaxerxes asks Nehemiah what he needs, he has a list of supplies and a timeline to provide the king. Nehemiah wasn’t a stone mason to know the supplies or timeline involved offhand, but, in moving from vision to plan he involved other people who did know what was needed and how the work would go. He didn’t need to have every answer himself, but he took responsibility to facilitate the people who could get the answers and build a plan, and the Lord blessed that, enabling Nehemiah to move from a burden for Jerusalem to an actual plan to see the situation rectified.

It’s worth considering ourselves, what burden(s) has the Lord put on our hearts that we have ignored or written off saying, “This isn’t my responsibility,” or, “I wouldn’t even know where to start.” But what if, instead, we took those burdens to the Lord in fasting and prayer, asking if He would have us involved in meeting that need? What if we, as the Body of Christ, took responsibility for the things that the Lord cares about, even if/when they are not “my job”? And what if we were able to get our churches and others in the broader Christian community rallied behind the purposes and burdens of the Lord like Nehemiah did?

How much might this change the world in ways we could never otherwise see or imagine??

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