We have been talking about the heart of Nehemiah because it really is the sum total of repentance. But repentance is not the whole journey. You also have to know the season you are in, write the vision clearly, and be ready when ridicule shows up the moment you start to build.
Five Things We Will Learn
- Why knowing your season keeps you from fighting the wrong battle.
- How favor with the king followed Nehemiah’s brokenness and clarity.
- Why a vision must be written down and made plain.
- How Sanballat’s ridicule is part of the journey, not a surprise.
- What it looks like to keep building when mockers rise.
Know the Season You Are In
If you act like Elijah when you are actually in a Jeremiah season, you will not last long. Jeremiah told the people they were going into captivity. They would not listen. Later Nehemiah is living in the fruit of that refusal, under an oppressive government, and God begins a rebuild through repentance. You have to know the times.
When Nehemiah stood before the king, he said he was devastated over the place where his people were buried lying in ruins, gates burned, walls broken down. The king’s heart was favorable toward him. Favor followed a man who had already faced reality and owned his part in it.
Groundwork for Vision
Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” And Habakkuk 2:2-3 tells us to write the vision and make it plain so that a herald may run with it. Nehemiah did not show up with a vague feeling. He could answer how long and what he needed. Clarity invites builders. Confusion scatters them.
You see, if you do not even know there is danger, people can destroy the work and think they are doing God a favor. Watchmen on the wall hear the warning. Builders pick up the trowel. The trumpet call is not entertainment. It is an assignment.
Watch Part 2
Confronting Ridicule When You Are Building
No sooner does the vision go public than Sanballat shows up. Ridicule is one of Lucifer’s oldest tools. God’s voice does not sound like mockery. When the mocking spirit arrives, do not be shocked. Get grace to respond. Nehemiah’s faith was not in himself. His faith was in the God who called him and told him what to do.
Insecure people throw mud when vision gets clear. Stay on the wall. Keep the groundwork. Keep the season. Keep building.
A Simple Call
Ask the Lord: What season am I in? What vision have You made plain? Where am I still flattering You with my lips instead of changing? Then write it down, honor the authority God has placed around you, and refuse to quit when the ridicule starts.
Listen above, then keep going. Part 3 calls us onto the field.
In This Series
Previous: Part 1 of 13 | Heart of Nehemiah Series | Next: Part 3 of 13
Related Reading
- Heart of Nehemiah: Power of True Repentance, What It Looks Like and Favor That Comes With It (Part 1 of 13)
- Heart of Nehemiah: Time to Get on the Field and Speak the Same Vision; Do Not Let Them Stop You (Part 3 of 13)
- The Heart of Nehemiah Rebuilding the Walls of the Church
- Unlocking Divine Favor: Lessons from Ezra and Nehemiah