True & Beautiful Things About the Bible--Old Testamentනියැදිය

Nehemiah: God-Given Opportunities

Few things in life are better than acting on an opportunity that you know you are uniquely able to do. Usually this project sits at the intersection of something God wants done and something you can do. The window is almost always short and perhaps you have to be brave, but it’s a worthy task and you never feel more alive than when you step into it by faith.

Nehemiah felt this kind of passion when he heard about the condition Jerusalem was in without her protective walls. God put a desire in his heart: I want to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls.

For almost a hundred years Jerusalem had sat in rubble after God’s people were taken as prisoners of war. Now Israel was returning, but the city wasn’t safe without its walls. Nehemiah believed God’s promise that He would bring His people back from the ends of the earth, “back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored” (1:8-9).

This was a worthy project—something God wanted done and Nehemiah was uniquely positioned and skilled to get it done. This was his opportunity.

That’s not to say this kind of task is easy. By definition, it usually feels impossible. First, Jerusalem was a four-month journey away from Nehemiah’s home in Persia. He didn’t have funding. He had limited time. And even once the project began it was riddled with bad news, lies, criticism from outside and conflict within. This task was too big for them.

But what we learn in this memoir is that behind their enormous investment, God was working out the details. He was with them. Nehemiah knew it, too, because unless the Lord builds the house, their blood, sweat, and tears were wasted.

In key moments throughout the project, Nehemiah laid it all out for God and asked His help. (Nehemiah 9 records the longest prayer in the Bible.) He asked God for provision—and got it from the most unlikely source. He prayed for conflict resolution—and his team worked through it. He asked for protection—and he was saved from harm. At the end of his life, Nehemiah asked God to remember him and spelled out all he had accomplished throughout his life—and God remembered.

The beautiful thing about acting on God-given opportunities is not that God needed you to get it done, but that He wanted you to do it and get the blessing.

Next: God in the shadows