For about a month now I have been leading a girls Bible study in our home. During this hour or so every Monday night, my dear husband has to find a place to relocate so as to not interfere with our deep conversations about nail polish and tampons. I'm sure he doesn't mind. It has been such an incredible growing experience for me since it requires me to put in extra time going deeper in the Word and continuing to practice leading discussion. We have been going through a study by Kelly Minter called Nehemiah: A Heart That Can Break. When I first read Nehemiah on my own, I didn't get anywhere near all of the things out of it that she discusses! I love it! It talks about how Nehemiah's heart breaks for the devastation of his city and people and it drives him to action. It especially stirs my heart because of the recent devastation so close to home. When we first meet Nehemiah, he is governor living in a Persian palace. Because of his position, he is rightfully entitled to all the luxuries that go along with it. He could so easily have just donated money for other people to do the work, but instead, he has compassion on his people and goes to work re-building the wall himself with the help of others. Throughout this study, there are many things I have learned. I'll share a few of them with you!
1. We need to pray for a compassionate heart.
Jesus did not live life on earth simply praying for others and donating money. He chose to associate himself with those that others deemed unlovely. I understand that not everyone is called to live in another country, but we are all called to love others and place their needs above our own. That may mean serving across the world, but for many of us that could mean cooking dinner for a family that struggles to buy food, sitting by the "weird" kid in the cafeteria, or just simply doing simple acts of kindness for those we see every day. A good quote Kelly said is that there is a huge difference between giving to the poor and identifying with them.
2. Being in the will of God can be scary and uncomfortable.
There were multiple times where people told Nehemiah that what he was doing was crazy and there was no need to rebuild Jerusalem. He could have agreed and gone back to his cushy lifestyle in his palace, but he kept his heart and mind on what God has called him to do. This reminded me that God may call us to do something that doesn't make sense to the rest of the world, but there is no reason not to trust him. He always sees the bigger picture.
3. Rebuilding is much harder than building
Nehemiah talks about the amount of rubble that they had to get rid of before they could build. There even comes a point where he confesses that their strength was giving out because there was so much rubble that they didn't feel like they could rebuild the wall. This gave their enemies ammo to use against them. This one particular bro named Sanballat was always giving them a hard time. Jerk. This could have easily caused Nehemiah to give up; however, he prayed and proceeded to station guards at the points of most vulnerability. This is such an awesome picture of how we are to live as Christ-followers! We all have areas of vulnerability that we have given into at some point. Some of us more often than others. These areas, or "rubble" if you will, are the things that need to be dealt with between us and God before something beautiful can be built. That's not to say that we need to get our act together before God can use us, but it is to say that these areas in our lives that we find we can't overcome without God's help need to be confessed and held accountable for. Through that process, He can reveal ways in which he wants to use us. The guards that Nehemiah sets up at the vulnerable spots on the wall is a great picture of the accountability we need to set up in place in our lives. By giving a few trusted Christian friends the permission to ask you tough questions to keep you safe is a huge part of being a Christ-follower. We are not meant to take on our struggles alone.
These are just a few of the things that have stuck out to me as we have been going through this study. If you are looking for a great bible study that really digs deep into the Bible, I would highly recommend this one!
Have a great weekend!
Kristen
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