Nehemiah 11-16
by Susanne Moore
Remember the snake? He has been jumping in to spook us since day one. If you remember, Nehemiah asked the king for all he would need for success. the king not only provided it, but he also sent an army ahead to protect it. May we never forget God is with us. The naysayers in verse 10 of chapter 2 were not happy. Are they ever?
Does Nehemiah address them? Nope.
He quietly examines the ruins of Jerusalem, and he does it in the dark of night. I find this most interesting. He does not immediately run to the people and say, “I have permission from the King, I have the tools, I have his blessing, let’s go rebuild”. He takes the time to thoroughly examine the work ahead of him. In vs 11 he “stays three days” then “sets out during the night with a few others.”
The enemy is watching, wondering, contemplating his role in the presence of Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king. I imagine his brain on over drive. “This can’t be good, why would he be here, he is up to something, I must figure this out, I will be ready to attack.”
In verse 16 we see this plainly, “the officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because I had said nothing to the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.” I believe Nehemiah was a wise man and he knew the enemy. He knew there would be those we call “flying monkeys” in the trauma world, that will support the negative no matter how big and awful it might be. I never thought about being quiet before the enemy, have you?
I tend to yell, jump, kick, scream and shout truth. If I look back at how cunning the enemy is, why would I want a flashing light over my face giving him a target before I had examined my ruins for what work needed to be done? Who can understand it? So wise to quietly contemplate and only let truth be known when you are ready to rebuild the broken places and spaces.
Do you have a prayer circle, a group of friends who will pray for you, circle around you, pray in the gap, bring honest evaluation and truth to your soul? Nehemiah had a few others with him. I believe that to be his circle. Those who believed in him to do God’s work, who prayed with him, who gave him an honest evaluation of the situation and good counsel.
The enemy is crouching, however, unlike God, he doesn’t know. He just makes guesses, questions, sits like the weasel he is waiting. He is not omnipotent or omniscient and he cannot see unless we let him see. God was with Nehemiah, and Nehemiah’s heart was for the rebuilding of Jerusalem. He stayed on that task and did not let the enemy sidetrack him. He sidetracked the enemy. He inspected the ruins, determined how to move forward and then shared the news.
Think about this in the rebuilding of your own ruins, and we all have places that need healing, structure, change, encouragement, success, how you too can gently move forward, circumventing the enemy of our soul, surrounding ourselves with strength and guidance, love and honesty before we leap into setting the bricks of change. We want the new, and we want all the old mortar and rubble gone.
Next step, begin. Join me soon to talk about New Beginnings.
Susanne Moore 