Nehemiah Lessons
As I finished a teaching series on the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament, there are at least eight lessons about change that I hope will stick.
- Don’t accept a status quo that does not look like what God had in mind. In other words, don’t get used to rubble where God wants something rebuilt. (Marriage, work, relationships, justice, health, integrity, success over addictions – whatever.)
- Have a huge view of God and his purpose shaped by reading the Bible. Become part of God’s Story by reading God’s Story.
- Pray change into action. Great biographies include great prayers.
- Focus, focus, focus and don’t let opposition, new problems, or distractions cause your hands to drop from the great change to which God has called you.
- God’s priority is to change us. It’s not what happens to you, but what happens in you that matters most.
- Change requires the help and resources of people around you. We don’t do great change by ourselves. Great changes are contagious.
- Once you get there, don’t go back. Now build on where you are.
- Great change produces great worship – lives that celebrate the compassion and presence of God.
What’s the great change that God wants you to engage? Look for some rubble and you’ll get a clue.