Deal With It

LIT VERSE: Nehemiah 2:10

THOUGHT BREAKDOWN:

When you take a look around your life, do you see brokenness that needs repair? Nehemiah did too. The sacred land was desolated. People were in great distress. Life was full of brokenness. Jerusalem was sacred territory but the walls of defence were torn down, the gates had been desecrated.

How will you respond to this brokenness? Do you think up your own plan, or will you seek the Lord to find out what He wants you to do? Nehemiah fasted, mourned, prayed, repented, and made himself available to God to do His will.

After this prayer, Nehemiah took action on what was in his heart and God began lining up the details though His power by placing His “good hand upon” Nehemiah.

Some who heard that Nehemiah sought the welfare of the city immediately began to oppose what he stood for, because it would diminish their influence and make them less politically powerful.

Nehemiah then went and took a good hard look at the status of Jerusalem. He went and researched where things actually were. He had to figure out where they were by taking a good look around, without rose colored glasses, and without acting as if things were better than they were. He needed to see what the task ahead was in a raw, real way. He had to take a realistic look at the circumstances at hand.

After inspecting the walls and taking a good, hard look at the devastation he went and rallied the people by saying, “You know what the situation is right? Let's rally and roll!” Then those God called to partner in the mission of restoring the city said, “let’s get up and go!” So they put their hands to the good work.

At that point the opposition got stronger, but the mission became more clear, and it was known who should and should not have part in the mission. He didn’t try to make peace with the opposers, he simply moved on.

WHAT IS THE SPIRIT SAYING?

When you do what I put on your heart to do, it will not please everybody. In fact, it will put some people in direct opposition to you and cause them to try to stop your efforts and tear down your reputation. Do not allow those who oppose you to keep you from your calling. Do not let your attention become focused on your opposers; focus on the mission at hand. Then, I will be able to move in your midst and cause all things to work out as I please.

WHAT WILL I DO ABOUT IT?

Today I will keep focused on the tasks at hand and build with diligence the walls that have been broken for decades.

I AM GRATEFUL FOR…

The scripture that instructs me to handle life's opposers properly.

TRACKER QUESTIONS

Are there any enemies in your life seeking to disrupt your progress? Identify the enemies if you can. Are they people, circumstances, attitudes, emotions? Talk to your crew about how you plan on dealing with these enemies.

Neal’s Personal Track Steps for Today. A Track Step is “how we start small but start now.” If you’re not stepping your stalling.

• Track Step #1 (God) Build with focus
• Track Step #2 (Health) H20 increase after 11
• Track Step #3 (Money) Cabinets
• Track Step #4 (People) Magnolia and Amie
• Track Step #5 (Mission) Chip on Book