1. Get Ready, Get Set, Go
1/5/2015
Rebecca Brown

5. Have you ever hesitated at an opportunity
Have you ever hesitated at an opportunity? Has something ever caused you to pause because it was a whole lot bigger than you thought it was? This happened to Nehemiah. Let’s look at the problem in Nehemiah 1.

6. Nehemiah 1:1-11
In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
3 They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
4 When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. 5 Then I said,
“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! 7 We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.
8 “Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. 9 But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’
10 “The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. 11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”

7. His first response was to pray.

10. Are there times when your prayers have not been answered
Are there times when your prayers have not been answered? Could it be that the answer could only come after fasting and praying--being undistracted, persistent and unrelenting in your petition before God?
solitude

11. For four months, Nehemiah prayed and waited on God.

12. Nehemiah prayed, “Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”
He was asking God to use him
and he was looking
for an immediate opportunity.
But God didn’t answer
Nehemiah immediately.
Have you noticed how
prayer and patience are
always linked together?
Are we persistent when God
doesn’t answer us right away?

14. Those whom God uses must often times learn to wait on Him
Those whom God uses must often times learn to wait on Him. Waiting is hard, because life is too short and it seems like time’s a wasting! Why is patience so important?

15. What do you do while you wait?

16. 1 11In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.

17. How did a foreign slave like Nehemiah get to the position where the king’s life was in his hands?

18. What God originates, He orchestrates. God engineers our circumstances
What God originates, He orchestrates. God engineers our circumstances. God is always working behind the scenes. He works and maneuvers to place us right where He wants us, and we need to be ready.

19. 2 Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. 2 So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.” Then I was terrified, 3 but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

20. 4 The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”
With a prayer to the God of heaven, 5 I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”

21. 6 The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?”

22. Then there are dreamers and visionaries
Then there are dreamers and visionaries. “Dreamers dream about things being different. Visionaries envision themselves making a difference.” Nehemiah was a visionary. Which are you? When God places a burden on you, a burden that calls for a change, will you be ready to be used by God to make the difference?

24. After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request.
7 I also said to the king, “If it please the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, instructing them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to Judah. 8 And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king’s forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself.”

25. And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.

26. Why did God grant Nehemiah’s requests?

27. He is obviously making a round of it all, making notes.

28. Time spent in prayer and planning is always recovered in performance.

29. 17 But now I said to them, “You know very well what trouble we are in
17 But now I said to them, “You know very well what trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire. Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and end this disgrace!” 18 Then I told them about how the gracious hand of God had been on me, and about my conversation with the king.
They replied at once, “Yes, let’s rebuild the wall!” So they began the good work.

30. 10 In fact, when Sanballat (the Horonite who governed Samaria) and Tobiah (the Ammonite official under him there) heard about what was happening, they were unnerved, distressed that someone was seeking the good of the Israelites left in the land….
19 Our adversaries lost no time, either. Joining Samaritan Governor Sanballat (the Horonite) and Official Tobiah (the Ammonite) was an Arab named Geshem. When they heard of our plans, they mocked and ridiculed us.

31. When you make a decision to follow God to build His kingdom, there will always be someone there to mock you or ridicule you. Some people are just gifted in discouragement.
So which are you?
A builder
or a wrecker (discourager)?

32. As I watched them tear a building down A gang of men in a busy town With a ho-heave-ho, and a lusty yell They swung a beam and the side wall fell
I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled, And the men you'd hire if you wanted to build?" He gave a laugh and said, "No, indeed, Just common labor is all I need."
"I can easily wreck in a day or two, What builders have taken years to do." And I thought to myself, as I went my way Which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who works with care, Measuring life by rule and square? Am I shaping my work to a well-made plan Patiently doing the best I can?
Or am I a wrecker who walks to town Content with the labor of tearing down? "O Lord let my life and my labors be That which will build for eternity!"

34. God is looking for builders, leaders, prepared people that take action
God is looking for builders, leaders, prepared people that take action. If God’s hand is upon you like it was with Nehemiah, and I believe He wants it to be, then how does God want to use you? Are you up to the task?

35. References When Opportunity Strikes -- Paul Decker Prayer, Planning, Purpose and Parody – Bob Henkins Realities of Serving God – Steven Cole Restoring What’s Broken – Don McClain