Something Big! (Nehemiah 2:18)

And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.

THE STUDY:

          Last week we looked at 3 of the four incentives Nehemiah used to motivate the people. Today we are going to look at the 4^th. He used his personal testimony of God’s grace to assure them of God’s favor on the project (v. 18). A Christian leader must encourage trust in God by leading in faith as well as in action.^[1]  

          In verse 18 Nehemiah shares, with the people, two things: the hand of my God that had been upon me (Nehemiah) for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to him. We have read the phrase “hand of God” many times in scripture. We know it references the fact that God’s blessing, His anointing was upon the situation. This brings comfort not only to Nehemiah but to the people as well. Nehemiah references the King and his blessing upon this venture as well.

          One can only imagine what this felt like for the people of that day. They had been without the sense of God for so long and no wall to protect them and now Ezra and Nehemiah have come and shared that God has not forgotten them. He wants to not only restore their relationship with Him (a spiritual sense of security); He wants to rebuild the wall which gives them a physical sense of security. Nehemiah’s presence and news gives the people back their belief in Gods assurance and protection. So much so, they rise up and build.

         

WHAT WE CAN WALK AWAY WITH ….

• We walk away this morning with the understanding that a divine God using an anointed leader that motivates a desperate group of people will produce an outcome that glorifies God.

APPLICATION:

There is a song that John Waller released a few years ago called “Something Big!” I can picture Nehemiah writing this song back in his day. The words are:

I wanna see something I've not seen

Something so big

I wanna be a part of something great

Greater than me
It's time to dream big dreams

To see Your vision Become reality

'Cause it's for You, by You, those who Love You wanna do
Something so big It's destined to fail without You, Lord

It's gonna fail without You, Lord

Something so great It takes a miracle to do We, Your children Wanna do something big for You

 

Today, let the divine God use you (the anointed leader) to motivate a desperate group of people (family, friends, etc.) so that the outcome glorifies the one true God. Do something “SO BIG” for God today that it is destined to fail without him.  

Blessings my friends

Pastor Rod

---

^[1] Breneman, M. (1993). Vol. 10: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (electronic ed.). The New American Commentary (182). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.