BUILT AMID THE RUINS

When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. —Nehemiah 6:16

A mid ongoing opposition, threats, and undermining, the work on the city walls was completed. The success of the people was noticed by the surrounding nations, and their opposition subsided into a grudgingly respectful silence. In Israel’s past, their God-led military victories had caused fear in the surrounding nations and set them up for their next battles, but this achievement was different. The people had worked together and had overcome persistent obstacles and opposition, and the walls stood as a testament to their work and to the help they had received from God. As the people began the task, they soon realized that the job might be too great for them. “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall” (Nehemiah 4:10). They were not only looking to build; they had the disadvantage of trying to rebuild amid the ruins of the previous wall.

But God’s provision was commensurate with the degree of difficulty. Whatever our responsibility, task, or project, we rarely get to begin with a clean slate.

We work with people and in places that have rubble, history, and scars. We often have to spend much time cleaning up the ruins and damage of the past before we can build or create anew. And we bring our own past disappointments, pain, and fears to whatever our next task might be. However, those challenges are never larger than the provision of God. Any success, any achievement—anything built—testifies to our God and His willingness to work with wounded people in broken places. That’s something people around us will notice and pay attention to.