We've come across a lot of lists during our journey through the Old Testament, and by now I hope we've learned not to skip them. If God took the time to preserve the names, families, places and assignments in His Word, there's a reason they're there.
And Nehemiah 3 is another one of those lists. Only this time, as I read name after name, I could almost see them lined up along the wall. One person here. Another beside him. Another family a little farther down. Priests, rulers, merchants, craftsmen, fathers and daughters, all with their hands on different sections of the same wall. Over and over we read words like next to him and next to them.
And what a beautiful picture of what building the Kingdom is supposed to look like.
It's Not one person trying to carry the entire thing. Not everybody fighting for the same section. Not comparing whose part was bigger or more important. They were Shoulder to shoulder, building together.
Then we resd verse 8 “Next was Uzziel son of Harhaiah, a goldsmith by trade, who also worked on the wall. Beyond him was Hananiah, a manufacturer of perfumes. They left out a section of Jerusalem as they built the Broad Wall.” Nehemiah 3:8 NLT
A goldsmith and a perfume maker.
I love that Scripture tells us what they did for a living because neither one was a professional wall builder. They had completely different skills, yet when there was a wall that needed rebuilding, there was still a place for their hands.
You don't have to be a builder by trade to be a builder by calling.
That's the Church.
We aren't all called to preach. We aren't all called to children's ministry. We aren't all teachers, worship leaders, intercessors or missionaries. We don't all have the same personalities, gifts or experiences.
We're not supposed to.
The goldsmith didn't need to become a perfume maker, and the perfume maker didn't need to become a goldsmith. They just needed their sections to meet. And that really speaks to me when I think about generations. We've talked so much throughout these books about how much we need each other. The older generation carries things the younger generation needs, and the younger generation is carrying things God wants to use too. We don't have to build exactly alike to stand shoulder to shoulder. Our sections simply need to connect.
One beautifully rebuilt section with gaps on both sides would still leave the city exposed. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own calling, our ministry, our vision, our assignment that we forget we're building His Kingdom.
My section isn't supposed to become my own little kingdom. It's supposed to connect to yours. Even the people of Tekoa teach us something here. Their leaders refused to participate, but the people kept working and later we find them building another section. Someone else's unwillingness didn't cancel their obedience.
So when I picture Nehemiah 3 today, I don't just see a wall. I see people. I see names God thought were important enough to remember. I see different trades, different families, different generations and different gifts, all stretched around Jerusalem with their hands doing the same work. And I see what the Church can look like when we stop competing over sections and start connecting them.
Day 1 God asked us , Are we weeping for what God has called us to build?
Day 2 we asked ourselves, Are we ready for the yes?
And today we're asking, Where is my section, and who has God placed beside me?
You don't have to build the whole wall.
You don't even have to build like the person next to you. Just faithfully build where God has placed you and make sure your section connects. Different people. Different gifts. Different generations. Different sections. One Kingdom. That's how the gaps close.
Love Pastor Mandy
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
Daily reading Nehemiah 3
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