This sermon was delivered as the Annual Message at the Baptist Missionary Association of Arkansas meeting on November 4, 2021, at Central Baptist College in Conway, Arkansas.
As we continue our study in Nehemiah 6, we once again find Nehemiah contending with those who have opposed him from the beginning—only now their tactics have changed. Does that mean that they have changed? Are they now trying to make peace with their neighbors? Nehemiah will have to depend on discernment from God to know what he should do and how he should do it.
By definition, the word compassion means “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” Love and compassion go hand-in-hand. “The opposite of compassion is often thought to be indifference or cold-heartedness. So as we continue to explore the story of Nehemiah, let’s see how he is confronted with an issue and moved to compassion as a result.
Oftentimes, when we set our hearts to do what God has called us to do or to walk according to His Word, opposition is sure to follow. Why is this? What should we do when this happens? As we continue through the book of Nehemiah, we’ll gain some insight into the nature of opposition and how we should respond to it.
As we jump around considering the circumstances and situations of some of these groups listed in chapter three of Nehemiah, we discover four biblical principles of teamwork and leadership: 1) God chooses to work through people, 2) God empowers leaders on all levels, 3) God wants all people to participate, and 4) God wants our work to be meaningful. We’ll unpack each one of these principles as we study this passage.
In the previous study, I introduced you to five principles for restoring the broken. We looked at how Nehemiah started this process with his God-given purpose in mind; and then he seized the opportunity that God set before him. This morning, we’re going to focus on the next two principles on this list—analyze the situation you find yourself in and then motivate your team to join you in the effort. Nehemiah accomplishes this by taking five specific steps.
After spending months fasting, praying and seeking God’s will, Nehemiah knew what the God-given purpose was for his life–he was to do whatever it took to rebuild the wall around the holy city of Jerusalem. Assured in his calling, he began waiting for God to show him when. In the meantime, Nehemiah spent a great deal of time planning for every contingency so that he would be ready when God opened the door. In this study, we will consider some of the steps in the process of preparing to fulfill our God-given purpose in life!
We live in a world filled with terribly immoral things. We are surrounded by wickedness everywhere we turn. It is this wickedness that has broken down the various aspects of our lives. How in the world will we be able to combat all this evil? How will we be able to rebuild what is broken? In our message today, we will see that rebuilding begins with realignment. We must change the way we think. We must adjust our priorities. We must alter our daily routines to reflect a desire to put God first in our lives!
With all that is happening in the world today, is it any wonder that people are dealing with extreme levels of anxiety and depression? Our lives… our country… our world is broken! We yearn for restoration and renewal in every aspect of life. We need spiritual, emotional and relational renewal! But how do we move forward with so much working against us? We rebuild. We restore what is broken. That’s what the Book of Nehemiah is all about. God’s chosen people were broken and their capital city lay in ruins, but God had a plan to restore the broken and He still has a plan for us as well today!
At the beginning of the book of Exodus, God’s people are growing in strength and number while living in Egypt. Things look good for them and everything is going well until a new Pharaoh rises to power that turns their prosperity to oppression. It’s easy to imagine God’s people wondering, “What is going on?” or “Where is God?” or “Is He doing anything?” Today’s message from Exodus 2 reminds us that God never wastes a moment but is always working for His glory and the good of His people, even when it’s not clear in the moment.