Nehemiah was the king’s cup-bearer which meant that his job was to serve drinks at the royal table.
He had heard that the wall of Jerusalem had been torn down and it caused him to weep….fast and pray.
Why is the wall important? The wall represented protection from their enemies. Therefore those who had returned to Jerusalem were not safe. Without this wall, they were defenseless and could be exposed to their enemies.
Nehemiah saw a need in the city and couldn’t just be a bystander, he needed to do something about it; so he cried out to God.
“Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me”-Nehemiah 1:11
And the king granted his request to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city where his ancestors had died. Nehemiah worked diligently for his people. His enemies did not like what they saw, so they crafted a plan to try to get Nehemiah and his team to stop. But we read of Nehemiah’s determination:
“The God of heaven will help us succeed.”-Nehemiah 2:20
Even though there was much work to be done, he needed to restructure his team due to the enemies’ attempt to construct a plan against them, so now only half worked while the other half were on guard (4:15-16).
His enemies tried to distract him but he proclaimed “I am engaged in a great work, so I can’t come.”(6:3)
Because his enemies were trying to get to him, it made Nehemiah work with greater determination (6:9).
After 52 days, the wall was built with the help of God. The people of Jerusalem were now better protected. And the enemies were frightened because they knew Nehemiah had the help of God by his side (6:16).
I am so inspired by Nehemiah’s diligence. He didn’t allow himself to get distracted from the task at hand. He worked to make things better for the people he loved.
I believe with all of my heart that God is with each of you. I believe that he wants to empower you to build up his kingdom but it will take determination. I know that distraction can make us procrastinate the tasks at hand but there are some people waiting on you to complete the work that God has assigned for you to do.
How beautiful would the world be, if we had more Nehemiah’s who would stand up for the cause and pray for the favor to see it come to pass? Lord, change the heart of our leaders so that more people can go and help others.
I think many times, fear keeps us from what we are really called to do on earth but then distraction is close by. You see the devil will try to use people and things to keep you from fulfilling your purpose but God needs more people like Nehemiah to be unshakeable and declare that they are doing great work and cannot shift gears.
I pray that whatever God has placed on your heart that you work on it diligently until you see it come to pass. It is my hope that you don’t allow fear or distraction to keep you from God’s will. People are counting on you to take a position and help them so that they can in return help someone else.