Nehemiah 1:12
When Nehemiah actually returned to rebuild the wall, he first made a secret ride around the city in the night, to survey the task and wrap his mind around the magnitude of the task that confronted him. Sometimes, we want to charge ahead with the task without fully knowing how extensive a commitment it will take to get the task done. We must first count the cost. To rebuild the work of the Lord here in the Northeast Region and in Bermuda, it will take superhuman exertion and a full-time commitment. It will not be easy, for the task is monumental.
However, like the apostle Paul we have the unshakable assurance that “ . . . He who has begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). We are confident of this very thing – that the work shall be done. In these most trying and apocalyptic times the Church of God shall be rebuilt and reestablished. Glory shall be demonstrated and manifested among us again.
I also remain convinced that like Nehemiah, some of us will have to arise in the night (Neh. 2:12). Our sleep, our necessary sleep, shall be often disturbed and curtailed, so that the Almighty may speak to us and give us a sense of how bad things really are and what our next moves need to be as we move ahead with the vision, He has placed in our hearts.
When everybody was sleeping, this man of God was made to get up, to ride around the city, to view the task and to hear from God. I think it is true that sometimes the Almighty wakes us up, makes us restless, and without sleep, so that He can speak to us about our assignment. The task seemed impossible, but Nehemiah came to realize that he was under orders from the God who specializes, in turning impossibilities into possibilities.
It has been my experience that after talking with the Almighty and hearing from Him, everything takes on a different perspective. That which seemed insurmountable before, suddenly becomes conquerable and accessible. Like David, we find ourselves declaring, “For by thee I have run through a troop: and by my God have I leaped over a wall” (Psalm 18:20). In spite of all odds and against all the opposing forces of darkness, Nehemiah distinctly saw rebuilt walls and the city fully restored and reconstituted even before he began the work. He visualized it!
May the Almighty wake us up not only spiritually, but also physically to see not only what is, but to see what shall be as we rise to the exciting task and challenge before us. Hard work is surely involved, but may we be ever motivated by the glory of the finished task! In an unusually short space of time, Nehemiah was able to exultantly declare, “So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elui, in fifty and two days” (Neh. 6:15). The Scripture admonishes us “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Gal. 6:9). The work shall be done as the vision is urgently, prayerfully, and passionately executed!
I feel constrained to caution us to get on with the work. Before we do however, we must be sure to count the cost, to commune with and receive counsel from the Lord, so that as we impart vision, it will be well received. As Nehemiah shared what the Almighty had put in His heart, the people overwhelmingly responded” . . . Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hand for this good work” (Nehemiah 1:18). Sometimes, all it takes is one individual hearing from God and getting up even in the night! (Neh. 1:12).
Leroy V. Greenaway
Presiding Bishop – Northeast Region
