Looking out across the rumble Amos and Johaz could see the lone figure dismount his horse and start crawling across the heaps of stones and debris.
“I believe he has taken on more than he can handle!” exclaimed Johaz.
“Yea, I think you’re right. I don’t believe anyone, even with the help of all God’s angels, can rebuild this mess,” replied Amos.
Quietly, they sat and waited. Both reflected on stories they’d heard from their grandfathers about the once vibrant and glorious place now laying in ruins. Both wondered why they even accompanied this stranger. It seemed so hopeless.
Finally, in the distance under the bright light of the moon, they saw the horseman returning.
“It has been so many years. I wonder why he’s so determined to rebuild it. He’s never even lived here.”
“Well, he believes the Lord wants it rebuilt but get this; he also thinks it can be filled with joy again.”
“Sure! Sure! You don’t really believe that, do you?”
The horseman was Nehemiah. The place was Jerusalem. He arrived a few days prior committed to rebuilding the walls of the city, which Nebuchadnezzar destroyed in 586 BC. We don’t know for sure but in one form or another, the above conversation probably happened at some point among Nehemiah’s colleagues. Actually, throughout the history of God’s people, sceptics have expressed the same doubts about similar undertakings. Only the devastated object or the shattered individual changed. Like Jerusalem, they appeared beyond hope.
The discussion could go like this.
“It’s hopeless!”
“No one could ever put her life back together.”
“Beyond help I say, kind of like Humpty Dumpty.”
“Why would anybody even waste their time trying?”
Misgivings abound when people destroyed by sickness, drugs, divorce, emotional breakdown, or financial collapse, to mention only a few, attempt to rebuild their lives.
“Why would anybody even try helping these people?” The answer remains the same. Just as God desired the broken walls rebuilt, even more, He wants the lives of people wrecked by Satan restored and living an abundant life. Jesus told us, the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). Satan has ravaged the lives of billions of people around the world. Jesus came to rebuild and reverse the destruction. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
This thought flows directly out of my personal experience from devastation all the way through rebuilding. My life once resembled the walls of Jerusalem. When we returned from Africa after battling for two years with numerous bouts of malaria and its side effects, I collapsed emotionally, mentally, and physically. I imagine that conversations like the above happened at some point during my journey back to a wholesome life. Actually, I carried on this conversation with myself a few times. The Holy Spirit led me to the Book of Nehemiah that details how he reconstructed the ruined walls of Jerusalem. Through Nehemiah’s struggles and victories, the Holy Spirit taught me lessons on how to rebuild my life with His help.
Space won’t allow me to write about the how to’s. Instead, I hope to convey, that regardless of how shattered your life seems God wants you restored. Will it be easy? No! Restoration will not happen overnight. Satan will fight. He will try to make you afraid, bring deception, and even mock you, all with the intent of causing you to give up. He attempted these tactics with Nehemiah. Remember a lesson I endeavored to etch in the minds of every student I taught, “The only way you can fail God is to quite.” God created the universe from nothing and man out of the dust of the earth. He brought life back to His dead Son, Jesus. Nehemiah gathered up what remained and set the stones back in place. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you to scriptures out of which He can teach you the steps to your recovery. He will take the remains of your broken life and restore you to wholeness and joy.
SUSTAINING WORD FOR THE WEEK: So the wall [your life] was completed . . . When all our enemies heard about this . . . they were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. (Neh 6:15, 16).