Yesterday we watched the people of Jerusalem protect the wall from the enemy outside. They prayed, They stood guard and They kept building.
But in Nehemiah 5, the problem isn't outside the wall anymore. It's inside the wall.
The people begin crying out because they're hungry, in debt, losing their land, and even having to sell their children into servitude. And what is really awful about it all is who was doing this to them.
Their own people.
They were standing together to rebuild Jerusalem while some of them were taking advantage of the very people they were supposed to be rebuilding it with.
And I just couldn't get past that.
What good is rebuilding the wall if we're destroying our own people behind it? And Nehemiah was angry when he heard what was happening. And rightfully so. But he didnt just get angry and complain. He stepped up and handled it.
He was angry but he also thought before he spoke. Whew. There's a lesson all by itself right. Think before you speak. Don't lash out in your anger even if it is justified.
Then Nehemiah confronted them and told them to make it right. Not just apologize. Not just admit they shouldn't have done it. But also Give it all back and Repair what you've damaged. And then Nehemiah looked at his own leadership too. As governor, there were things he had every right to take from the people, but he chose not to because he knew they were already carrying enough.
Its not always just about Am I allowed to do this. Sometimes we have to ask ourselves, Does this reflect the heart of God toward the people He's trusted me with. We can become so focused on what's wrong outside the Church that we forget to look at what's happening inside it.
We can defend truth and still hurt people.
We can build ministries while tearing down the people serving beside us.
We can pray for the next generation to come while making them feel like they don't belong when they get here.
And we can spend so much time watching for the enemy outside the wall that we don't notice the damage happening right beside us.
Nehemiah understood something we need to remember as well. God wasn't just rebuilding a wall. He was rebuilding a people.
We need to not only pray and ask God to protect what we're building but also ask him to search our own hearts while we build it. We can't become so determined to fight what's wrong out there that we allow something wrong to grow inside of us.
Don't become what you're fighting.
Build the wall.
But take care of the people behind it.
Love Pastor Mandy
MandiesDandies / Ark of Hope
Daily reading Nehemiah 5
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