Helping to Build

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basics, battles, body of Christ, building, burdens, calling, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, covering each other, encouragement, family, fitly joined, focus, guarding, guarding each other, having each others back, helping each other, our swords at the ready, protecting each other, protection, standing together, wall building

Nehemiah 4:6 says, “So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.”

I love the book of Nehemiah. There is so much goodness in it. The leadership of Nehemiah, the teamwork of the people, the enemies getting stronger but God’s people steadily plodding to build the wall anyway. All the prayers and encouragement of the leaders, the strategy…I love it all.

When I came across Nehemiah 4:6 the other day, I of course, focused on “for the people had a mind to work”. After all, that’s usually what pastors I have been around would preach about. The other day though I was asked to look at how smart Nehemiah was to build all the wall to its half way point. My devotional leader Kelly Minter said, “So instead of completing the sections that were easily coming along and leaving the more difficult chunks for later, they decided to get the whole wall to the halfway mark. This may have meant leaving certain portions that were well-along in order to fill the gaps that were leaving vulnerable holes. It was better for the whole wall to be shored up, even though incomplete, than to have fully built sections here and there while others lie disconnected. This feels like divine wisdom to me.”

It felt like divine wisdom to me as well and I couldn’t help but think about our churches. Each church has people who are great at “wall building”. They just seem to be able to pray and trust and have the kind of faith that everyone desires. They build great walls of protection around their loved ones by prayer and standing firmly on God’s Word. Through years of pressing in to Jesus they have faithfully built their section of the wall.

Others are more vulnerable. They haven’t gone through as much faith testing. They’ve trusted in other things until they have finally realized that only God can sustain. They forget to pray first when an attack comes. Their wall still has gaping holes where the Enemy can easily penetrate.

Nehemiah 4:6 tells us the smart thing to do is to come together and help each other build the whole wall until all sections are joined. We may not understand why their section isn’t further along, but we are still called to help. The people of Jerusalem knew that they were still vulnerable if any section was still crumbling. Just because their section was finished, they knew that in order for everyone to be safe all the walls needed to become one, big wall.  That’s just being smart. That’s wisdom. How many times have we heard that we are only as strong as our weakest link? It’s true and it’s true that our church is only as strong as the wall of protection around it.

There are many people in our churches who need help building. Many people are still too vulnerable to attacks. Their foundation is barely started and they need help. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of teaching. People need to know the basics of building a strong foundation through prayer and Bible study and they need a side by side mentor that helps teach them the building process.

Others once had a magnificent wall, but sin, tragedy, or just the pounding of life has reduced it to a crumpled mess. We need to be faithful to help those dear ones clear that rubble away and rebuild. Christian counseling may be needed, forgiveness is often required and the clearing away of lifestyle choices can often help the rubble to be gone and the rebuilding to occur. This often takes time and effort. A fresh build is much more exciting  than the clearing away of old debris, but it often takes rebuilding the old before the whole wall can be strong once again.

Then there are those who are building for all they are worth who need our protection. This is especially close to my heart right now because we have some friends who are being hit from every side imaginable. It’s not quite Job, but it’s getting there quickly. We need to be especially vigilant with these precious wall builders. Our wall is doing okay in the moment, our wall is standing strong, but our sweet brothers and sisters are being beat to death by the Enemy. They are trying to build, they are trying to learn, they are trying to keep the faith, but the fiery darts keep hitting their backs as they are trying to build.

Nehemiah 4 goes on to tell us that in order for the wall to be built and joined together, guards had to be stationed. Some would build and some would guard. Those building had their sword at the ready as well, but they knew someone else was guarding, so they were able to focus on building and not be as disctracted. They were encouraged to keep building because their fellow wall builders were taking the time to protect them. That is so beautiful to me.

That’s what we need to do for each other. Who in our churches needs to be guarded? Who can you hold your sword up for today? I’ll admit I look at my half built wall and think, “I still have so much work to do.” The sad fact is we will always have work to do. Our walls will never be finished completely, but God has called us to protect each other, to help everyone get their wall to the halfway point, to join all our walls together and become less vulnerable from attacks by the Enemy as a whole church fitly joined together (Ephesians 4:16).

That’s a wonderful picture isn’t it? Building and guarding. Building and guarding. Building and guarding. Loving each other like the family we are. Praying together as a true army and lifting our swords not just for ourselves, but even more readily for those around us. Let’s take the example in Nehemiah and make it true today. Let’s build, help, protect and love as we are called knowing that the vulnerable places in our brothers and sisters are our own. Knowing that buiding together is the only way our churches will be strong. Knowing that without the Master Builder we would all be lost. Knowing that our walls will never be perfect, but that fellow believers are raising their swords for our protection and we are raising our sword for theirs. May it be, Lord. May it be.

My Story          Seeking Hearts Ministries

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basics, body of Christ, calling, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, church, church body, control, direction for the Body of Christ, edification of others through spiritual gifts, encouragement, gifting, God's plan, God's plan in the Body, God's plan in the church, perspectives, perspectives on spiritual gifts, spiritual gifts

First Corinthians 12 speaks to us about spiritual gifts. We learn in this passage that every believer has a manifestation of the Holy Spirit who resides in them through a gifting that He provides. Sometimes, we might have the gift of teaching, sometimes wisdom, sometimes miracles or sometimes one of the other gifts mentioned throughout the Bible. Whatever God wants us to “specialize” in, the Spirit gives us the gift (or gifts) to do it. Remember though, our gifting is for the edification of others and not for our own fame, or our recognition in any way. First Corinthians 12:7 says, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” We must remember that our spiritual gift is for others from God Himself (I Cor. 12:11), so there is no reason to be prideful, just thankful that God placed His gifting in us.

Since our gifting is for others, First Corinthians 12 goes on to describe our gifts in the church working together as a human body. Verses 14-27 say, “So the body is not one part but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I’m not a hand, I don’t belong to the body,’ in spite of this it still belongs to the body.  And if the ear should say, ‘Because I’m not an eye, I don’t belong to the body,’ in spite of this it still belongs to the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole ⌊body⌋ were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But now God has placed each one of the parts in one body just as He wanted. And if they were all the same part, where would the body be? Now there are many parts, yet one body. So the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ Or again, the head can’t say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’ But even more, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary… Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other. So if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.”

As I was thinking about our gifts the last few days, I realized that due to our gifting, all Christians will see things differently. Not only are we supposed to be working together for God’s glory, but due to our different placements in the Body we will naturally see things differently. This can be a good thing, or a bad thing depending on whether our focus is on God, or ourselves. For example, if my placement in the Body is an eye, I will be able to see things that others cannot. If I am an ear, I will be able to hear God’s voice in a way that others cannot. If I am a foot, I will see the need to go in a way that the ear and the eye will not understand in their own strength; but, the ear and the eye will see and hear about dangers and good opportunities for the feet to go. All of us working together can get the whole Body moving in the right direction at the right time according to God’s will, if we listen to each other’s perspective.

I do realize that all of us working together, listening to each other’s perspectives and trusting that each is hearing from the Lord takes a great deal of faith. I realize that a lot of “what ifs” come in to play. What if the eye is only seeing themselves and not focused on the Lord? What if the ear can only hear what man is saying? What if the feet will not move in the direction God is calling? On and on it can go and does go. The only control we have over the situation is doing our part.

If I am an eye, I must make sure that my vision is clouded with only God’s face. I must, through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, remove the beam and the splinter from my own eye (Matthew 7), so I can see what God wants for the Body as a whole. I need to not give my perspective until I am sure it is what God wants me to see.

If I am an ear, I must be certain that I am hearing God’s voice clearly. I need to know His voice so intimately that I can not only hear His thundering voice, but the quietest whisper as well. Again, I need to not share my viewpoint until I know God is speaking.

If I am a foot, I need to make sure that my feet are shod with the Gospel of Peace (Eph. 6:15) and that I am ready whenever God says to go. I don’t need to run off on my own agenda, but realize that others are following. I need to remember that feet lead and I need to guide others only on God’s paths of righteousness as Psalm 23:3 says.

The other area I can control is my understanding of God’s people. I need to give grace to the eyes that cannot hear as clearly, if I’m an ear. I need to understand that an ear is not going to see things as clearly and quickly if I’m an eye. I also need to be patient with the eyes and ears if I’m a foot. I need to realize that they need to know where they are going before they make the first step. I can pray for understanding of God’s Body and their perspective. God made them and gifted them, so He can help us understand them and love them as He loves them.

Another area of control in this journey of working together as the Body of Christ is that we can be trustworthy. If our churches only see us when we want something, or have “heard from God”, they are naturally not going to be as receptive to us as they would be to someone who has been in the trenches with them praying, learning and growing. We need to be worthy of the Body’s trust. We can only gain and maintain this trust by being in a close relationship with our Father every day. The Enemy is sneaky and he will place things in our sight, our hearing, or our path that will look good, but only having a close relationship with our Lord can alert us to the deception. When others see our relationship with our God, they know we can be trusted to see, hear, or go as God desires.

We also need to be careful with people’s trust once we have it. If we feel like God is speaking to us to edify the Church, we must be sure. God does not mind giving confirmation if it comes from a place of trust and love for His people. When He gets angry is when we are asking for confirmation as an excuse to not obey. I think that’s the difference between Gideon and Moses in the Old Testament. Gideon did not want to go into a battle without the assurance that it was God’s will, but once he had it…WHAM! No going back! Let’s be like Gideon. When we hear God, let’s be sure and then…WHAM! Let’s never turn back!

The Body of Christ is not an easy thing to be involved with and I am so glad that God alone fits us all together. He has called us to work together as one, trust each another and depend solely on Him to make it work. Shew! Aren’t you glad it’s not up to us to figure it all out? Knowing our position, having grace for each other’s perspectives and being trustworthy is in our control. Let’s do our part by being in constant communion with Him and let Him deal with the rest from His perspective!

Seeking Hearts MInistries