Prayer Journal
Saturday, November 4, 2000
When Nehemiah made up his mind to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, opposition quickly rose up against him. But, it didn't stop him from going to Jerusalem and organizing his Jewish brothers to assist in the effort.
With the threat of armed resistance, Nehemiah did have a problem however. He didn't have the luxury of depending on soldiers to defend his construction crew and if his people stopped working in order to defend themselves, the work would surely grind to a halt.
Nehemiah proved resourceful as he grouped the people into family units to work more efficiently. He then told them to divide up - half of them working while the other half stood guard. Nehemiah then urged them to carry weapons in one hand while working with the other. The harder the resistance the more determined the people were to complete the work.
When the enemy saw the determination of the Jews to resist them with force, they backed off and turned to intimidation. Amazingly, as a result of their determination, Nehemiah's leadership and God's blessing they completed the work in only 52 days.
When the resistance saw that the work had been completed in such a short time, they stopped resisting. They lost heart because they knew God was helping the work along. It's one thing to fight against man, it's quite another to fight God.
God uses men like Nehemiah to display His character when they humble themselves, pray and allow Him to work through them. Such people, however are not easy to find. Down through the ages, God has searched for willing individuals who every once in a while will stand up and fill the gap in the wall that sin has broken and burned. Do you aspire to be such a person? Can God use you?
"I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord" Eze 22:30,31
(1) Scripture comes from the Holy Bible, New International Version; (c)1978 by New York International Bible Society
(2) The images used herein were obtained from the Learning Company's ClickArt Christian Graphics Deluxe product, (c)1999 The Learning Company, Inc and its subsidiaries, 88 Roland Way, Novato, CA 94945 USA. All Rights Reserved.
