30 April | EVERYONE
“So I answered them, and said to them, ‘The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.’” Nehemiah 2: 20
It is admirable to see the city of Lisbon prosperous and happy despite having suffered two terrible blows of nature in the past. It had already been devastated in 1531 by an 8.0 magnitude earthquake, but two centuries later on a November morning in 1755, it was shaken by another earthquake of gigantic proportions. It took just three minutes for Lisbon to practically disappear. In 1820, sixty-five years later, it had still not been fully rebuilt.
Destroying is easy; rebuilding takes time. God's people who had been deported to Babylon faced the challenge of rebuilding Jerusalem. It was no easy task. The enemy set up many schemes to hinder the restoration, but Nehemiah invoked the name God as the basis of his success in the mission (see today’s verse).
Notice Nehemiah's reasoning. First, he had faith in God. "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us." It is useless to start any task relying only on human effort. Do not dare take on the fight of life alone. Trust in the Lord. But on the other hand, do not sit idly by trusting God to do it all for you. Nehemiah assumed it would be them. "His servants," who would build. The inspiration comes from God, but the perspiration is from man.
What is the challenge you face right now? Who are your enemies? Have they decided to interrupt your work? Say to them, like Nehemiah, “you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.”
Take Action
When you feel like you must do something that God puts on your heart, do not think about it anymore. Do it as well as you can, and do not obsess over the consequences. Sing "Arise and Build" (if possible, with your family).