through the fog there is hope in the distance
I am so loving our women's bible study on Nehemiah. So much hope and comfort there, I pray the Lord will encourage your heart also in what He's been showing me. Today we looked at the verses where Nehemiah goes alone out into the night to see the damage done to the city of Jerusalem.
Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem;
And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. Nehemiah 2: 12a, 13 (NKJV)
I love this passage - we again get to see Nehemiah's heart being directed by the Lord, and the intimacy he shares with Him. In the secrecy of night he goes out to take in the devastation of Jerusalem. He takes a few men with him to Jerusalem, but is essentially alone on his night travel around the city. He wants to hear from God. He doesn't want to hear from man. He wants to ponder in his heart all the Lord is telling him. He has to also consider the cost.
This passage really comforted me. When we are in conflict, when we need to hear from the Lord, when our walls are broken down and in need of re-building, the direction we need to take is in the night shelter of our Lord. To turn our ears and hearts to Him alone. We know none of us have perfect walls that never need tending to; there are always areas that need restoration and re-building in our lives.
I'm sure there were a lot of people wanting to tell Nehemiah how to re-build.
Nehemiah depended on the small, still voice of God to lead him. He treasured the burden he had to re-build, because it was the Lord's. I love how he inspects the city at night. How he must have felt the closeness of the Lord beside him in the cover of the night. Here is a man who mourned and wept when he heard the news of Jerusalem. How much more I believe he wept as he rode through the streets of this beloved city, experiencing it firsthand in the darkness under a bright night sky. How his heart must have broken over and over. He rides up to view the wall, then turns back and enters through another gate. He even goes to where they dump their trash. This was not a casual glance around to confirm it needed re-building, to declare it a state of emergency.
How he must have prayed for that city, and wept for the faces he encountered and the hopeless state they were in. And all the while, I have to believe, his resolve going stronger and his direction growing clearer as he heard from the Lord alone. I can see his tear-stained face, a face set like flint like our Lord's, lit only by the stars in the sky, as he asked his Lord what to do next. And the beginnings of a stirring of hope in the distance.
Nehemiah didn't announce this night ride, or where he was going to the authorities. He didn't say, "Tonight I will ride through the devastation and look upon this city of woe!" He didn't first have a vision plan, or hold a meeting in the temple. And later when he does go to the authorities, the testimony of the Lord's goodness to him alone is his main point of persuasion to re-build. And their answer to him? "Let us rise up and build." Nehemiah 2, verse 18. Amazing!
This is a man who loves the Lord with all his heart. His first inclination is not to unveil a plan for re-building. This is a man who can't contain the goodness of the Lord in his life and the testimony of how he was treated so favorably by the King! This is what comes out of him first, out of his heart before any vision, any plan, any thought of re-building.
I love the way Nehemiah is led by his heart, which is led by God's heart. I cannot cry without reading this passage and wanting God to give me more of His love for His people and their broken-ness. Lord give us your courage to be like You in the places you have placed us, in the areas you have given us authority over to work favorably in Your sight.
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest my enemy say,
"I have prevailed against him";
Lest those who trouble me rejoice
when I am moved.
But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your
salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully
with me.
Psalm 13: 3-6 NKJV
Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem;
And I went out by night through the Valley Gate to the Serpent Well and the Refuse Gate, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem which were broken down and its gates which were burned with fire. Nehemiah 2: 12a, 13 (NKJV)
I love this passage - we again get to see Nehemiah's heart being directed by the Lord, and the intimacy he shares with Him. In the secrecy of night he goes out to take in the devastation of Jerusalem. He takes a few men with him to Jerusalem, but is essentially alone on his night travel around the city. He wants to hear from God. He doesn't want to hear from man. He wants to ponder in his heart all the Lord is telling him. He has to also consider the cost.
This passage really comforted me. When we are in conflict, when we need to hear from the Lord, when our walls are broken down and in need of re-building, the direction we need to take is in the night shelter of our Lord. To turn our ears and hearts to Him alone. We know none of us have perfect walls that never need tending to; there are always areas that need restoration and re-building in our lives.
I'm sure there were a lot of people wanting to tell Nehemiah how to re-build.
Nehemiah depended on the small, still voice of God to lead him. He treasured the burden he had to re-build, because it was the Lord's. I love how he inspects the city at night. How he must have felt the closeness of the Lord beside him in the cover of the night. Here is a man who mourned and wept when he heard the news of Jerusalem. How much more I believe he wept as he rode through the streets of this beloved city, experiencing it firsthand in the darkness under a bright night sky. How his heart must have broken over and over. He rides up to view the wall, then turns back and enters through another gate. He even goes to where they dump their trash. This was not a casual glance around to confirm it needed re-building, to declare it a state of emergency.
How he must have prayed for that city, and wept for the faces he encountered and the hopeless state they were in. And all the while, I have to believe, his resolve going stronger and his direction growing clearer as he heard from the Lord alone. I can see his tear-stained face, a face set like flint like our Lord's, lit only by the stars in the sky, as he asked his Lord what to do next. And the beginnings of a stirring of hope in the distance.
Nehemiah didn't announce this night ride, or where he was going to the authorities. He didn't say, "Tonight I will ride through the devastation and look upon this city of woe!" He didn't first have a vision plan, or hold a meeting in the temple. And later when he does go to the authorities, the testimony of the Lord's goodness to him alone is his main point of persuasion to re-build. And their answer to him? "Let us rise up and build." Nehemiah 2, verse 18. Amazing!
This is a man who loves the Lord with all his heart. His first inclination is not to unveil a plan for re-building. This is a man who can't contain the goodness of the Lord in his life and the testimony of how he was treated so favorably by the King! This is what comes out of him first, out of his heart before any vision, any plan, any thought of re-building.
I love the way Nehemiah is led by his heart, which is led by God's heart. I cannot cry without reading this passage and wanting God to give me more of His love for His people and their broken-ness. Lord give us your courage to be like You in the places you have placed us, in the areas you have given us authority over to work favorably in Your sight.
Consider and hear me, O LORD my God;
Enlighten my eyes,
Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest my enemy say,
"I have prevailed against him";
Lest those who trouble me rejoice
when I am moved.
But I have trusted in Your mercy;
My heart shall rejoice in Your
salvation.
I will sing to the LORD,
Because He has dealt bountifully
with me.
Psalm 13: 3-6 NKJV