Excerpts from' Get on with it!'
10/10/04
Nehemiah 2:1-20

We have in English a number of Proverbs that urge us to action when the time is right. In the days when blacksmiths were common, we used to hear the proverb, "Strike while the iron is hot." Not many would understand that these days. Today we have shortened it to, "Let's get it on!"

In the second chapter of Nehemiah we come to just such a moment. Last week we left our hero weeping and praying over the ruins of Jerusalem, crying out to God to lead him in a program of recovery. In the wonderful way the Bible has, this is intended to illustrate the damaged and ruined areas of our lives that need to be rebuilt, repaired or recovered. If you pursue that interpretation through Nehemiah you will find much practical help on how to reclaim a ruined life.

Many today find themselves in almost total ruin. They have lost their way and an wide open to the attacks of any destructive or hostile force. Others have several damaged areas in their lives. They are, perhaps, still held in bondage to wrongful attitudes or habits.

It almost goes without saying that if you are praying for help, as Nehemiah prayed for help in the opening chapter of this book, then you should expect an answer. Expect God to do something. Be ready for it when it comes. An opportunity to change will surely appear, at times rather unexpectedly or after a longer period of time than you think it ought to take, but it will happen because the God we worship is a God who answers prayer.

We find Nehemiah at that point of opportunity as the second chapter opens.

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" The king said to me, "What is it you want?"

Then I prayed to the God of heaven.

Because he was a man of prayer, he waited for months for the Lord to indicate the right time. He fasted, prayed and interceded for the city where his fathers are buried.

God often works in lives this way today. We are hasty, impatient creatures. We want our prayers answered tomorrow, or even yesterday! We pray, and we expect God's answer right away. But God often delays his answers. It is not because he is impotent or unwilling. There is much teaching in Scripture that a delayed answer does not indicate an unwilling God. We are taught again and again in Scripture to persevere in prayer -- to keep praying until the answer comes.

Nehemiah immediately senses that. This is God's open door. Nehemiah's response is to shoot up a prayer to heaven for help. In his thoughts, without words, he formulated a quick plea for help, and then made his response. This is a picture of a person who has a real abiding relationship with the Lord. They know that in any given moment, in any given situation they know that short prayer is effectual. In his spirit, Nehemiah was ready to partner with God in any given occasion.

In Verses 5-8, we learn just how ready he was for this occasion……and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."

So confident was Nehemiah at this time that he expressed all his needs to the king. Not only would he need sufficient time for this expedition but he needed secure travel. So he asked for letters to the governors of the provinces that he would have to pass through, to provide safe conduct for him. We learn later in this book that this not only gave him diplomatic immunity, but it also meant that he was appointed as the governor of Judah. He does not tell us that at this point, but it becomes clear that he was actually sent as a governor of the province of Judah. This would, therefore, give him diplomatic status as he traveled.

Finally, Nehemiah knew he would need some special supplies which only the king's authority could provide. He asked for special timbers to be cut for him out of the king's forest. This suggests to us that if we are truly concerned about rebuilding parts of our life, we need to think seriously about what it will require. We must assess what we will actually need, what steps we should take, and what may be involved in changing our habits so that we can be freed to be what God wants us to be. Nehemiah teaches us that we need to face honestly our situation.

The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with Nehemiah. An armed escort makes a great impression and commands immediate attention, and it sure turned some heads as Nehemiah made his way to Jerusalem. Nehemiah not only came with a full military escort but it is apparent from this account that he came with the full authority of the throne of Persia behind him. I want you to remember that as a Christian, if you set out to change something in your life for the better, you have the full authority of the throne of God behind you. You may proceed with full confidence that the unseen but very real power of God is backing you up!

We find that the first thing that Nehemiah encountered in the city was opposition!

If you're wanting to do any work for God, any work, you should anticipate opposition in that work. I wonder do we ever include this in any preparation in our minds? Do we anticipate opposition in what we're trying to do for God?

You see, opposition in the work of God often causes some people to say: 'I wonder if I am in God's will?' They question it, maybe they even turn their back on God's will - maybe they don't perceive it at the time, but they walk straight out of God's will because they're afraid of confrontations, they're afraid of opposition!

The great irony, and I believe it's a dupe of Satan at times, is that the opposite is the truth. It is when we encounter opposition that we can almost know of a certainty at times that it is proof that we are in God's will - almost always.

Whenever anybody says, "I will arise and build," Satan always replies, "Then I will arise and oppose." You can count on it! It is a necessary part of the process. When you actually start recovering your ruin, you will definitely meet severe resistance. God allows it for it is good for us to have opposition. That is what God is after in our lives. It is opposition that makes us strong. If we did not have any difficulty we would be moral cream puffs, unable to function in the kingdom of God.

You have got to step up and step out in faith against opposition. As a believer know that you have the victory in Christ. That you aren't fighting against people who are flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world-against the powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms. Know that as you're in Christ, your heavenly father has given you his Kingdom authority-Paul says in 2 Cor. 10:4: "We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds."

If you are in battle -it's spiritual in nature...Now, having seized the critical moment and entering the open door that God set before him, you must honestly face the full reality of the problem. It is most important that we face the facts in our own ruined areas as they are, name them, and acknowledge to ourselves and others that they are true. We must not try to cover them over or in any way excuse them. If you desire wholeness and restoration in your life, you must let the Holy Spirit have access to the rubble and reproach, as to begin God's work in you anew.

The form the opposition took is also prophetic of our struggles. They first "mocked and ridiculed." This is usually the first weapon the enemy employs. You may have felt it when you began to recover from your ruin. Your friends laughed at your desires to change. They may ridicule your religious convictions and resent with scorn your implied criticisms of their conduct.

Also, Nehemiah's enemies began to threaten and slander him with charges of rebellion and disloyalty. If ridicule does not work, then the opposition stiffens and becomes openly unfriendly and threatening. It is the next level of resistance which those who seek to rebuild will encounter.

These are but pictures for us. They picture something very real: the opposition and the resistance that we will experience from Satan himself. What was true of these opposing forces in Nehemiah's case is true also of Satan. He is a usurper. He has no right to possess humankind. He has tricked us. He has bedeviled us and led us astray. He has confused, manipulated and misled us. Yet he has no right to do so. Jesus came to restore God's property to him and to loose the hold of the devil upon the human race. That is what he does in our lives. So when we face resistance we must see it as allowed of God to strengthen us, but it has no real right to our lives. We do not have to be weak, failing, and unable to function. We are called to be free.

That is the glorious note which the epistle to the Galatians states: "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free!" Gal 5:1 a NIV. What that means in practice is that we do not need to be bound by habits or history from the past. Nehemiah declares here. Areas of ruin in our lives can be set aside because we are trusting in the program of God. We are expecting God to grant us the grace to stand.

That is why, with great determination, Nehemiah clenches his fist and says, "Look, the God of heaven is with us. He will give us success. We, his servants, will start rebuilding. Do what you like. It is not going to stop us. You are usurpers and have no right to this land."

Where are you? Do you anticipate opposition? Are you contemplating sacrifice? Are you cultivating God's dealings secretly in your heart? But will you be motivated by the encouragements in God's word, and will you take confidence in God? Does He have all of you? Are you completely surrendered to Him? Oh, I pray that today - we're all involved in the work in one way or another I hope - that we will be prepared, prepared for the work.

Father, help us, help us to surrender, for Jesus' sake. Amen.