7. Let’s Build! (Nehemiah 2:18)
Posted by Doug | Filed under Nehemiah: A Leader of Purpose & Priority
Hi and welcome back! Let’s pick up right where we left off.
Nehemiah has just cast a convincing vision and the people responded by saying, “Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem!” Nehemiah’s vivid description of their preferred future moved them to action. What unfolds over the next 7½ weeks is nothing short of amazing. In just 52 days the security perimeter of the city is reestablished. All that in less than two months!
But don’t be naïve! The 52 days of construction was to Nehemiah what harvest time is to the farmer. Make no mistake, harvest is hard work but it only represents the final relatively short portion of the growth season. If a farmer harvests it is because of disciplined work and patience that goes unnoticed except by a few—that is, until harvest time! For months and months before, the farmer has labored in anonymity. Such is the case with Nehemiah. He led the people and together they erected the walls in an impressively short period of time.
6. Vision: Seeing Through the Fog (Nehemiah 2:17-18)
Posted by Doug | Filed under Nehemiah: A Leader of Purpose & Priority
Hi! Thanks for rejoining me. I’ve entitled today’s devotional— Vision: Seeing Through the Fog.
Florence Chadwick was an accomplished American swimmer, the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, from England to France and back. At the age of 36, she attempted to swim from California to Catalina Island. According to Wikipedia, “Florence was flanked by small boats that watched for sharks and were prepared to help her if she got hurt or grew tired. After about 15 hours a thick fog set in and she began to doubt her ability, and she told her mother, who was in one of the boats, that she didn’t think she could make it. Florence swam for another hour before asking to be pulled out, unable to see the coastline due to the fog. As she sat in the boat, she found out she had stopped swimming just one mile away from her destination.”*
That’s the power of vision, or in this case, the lack of vision! The Bible tells us that people give up when they have no future hope inspired by vision. Vision moves us to action, it keeps us in the game even when things get tough. In its absence, like Florence Chadwick, we lose perspective, become discouraged, and quit.
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