From Rubble to Life

“What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?”  {Nehemiah 4:2}

Sanballat, a ridiculer and a bully, attacked God’s people by questioning their strength, their ability to fulfill promises, their faith, their perseverance, and their power to rebuild from ashes. 

Even they questioned themselves at times! The people of Judah said, “The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall.”

They had begun to take the accusing questions of Sanballat as truth.

Have you questioned your strength to do what God asks of you? Have you questioned whether you had enough perseverance to endure difficult times? Have you looked at our world…or perhaps your home or your life and thought, “There’s too much rubble. This is unredeemable?”

You’re not alone. Much like Sanballat in Nehemiah’s time, the devil speaks lies over us and questions our motives. Our flesh fights against our desire to walk in faith. The world in which we live is often hostile as well.

However, the devil, our flesh, and the world make a critical mistake, as did Sanballat. In their ridicule, they do not take into account the great and awesome God who has called His people to this work.

You see, our God is made strong in our weakness.

Our God keeps promises perfectly, even when we fail to do so.

Our God helps us overcome our unbelief.

Our God preserves us when we grow weary.

Our God redeems, restores, and rebuilds burned rubble.

 Just as Nehemiah trusted in God alone to build the wall, we trust in Him alone to redeem, restore, and rebuild us, our families, and our world through Jesus Christ, the living Stone.

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house...For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”  {1 Peter 2:4-6}

Father, Thank you for taking our rubble and ashes and molding us into living stones through Jesus. Thank you for His life, death, and resurrection. May we look to the living Stone when we tire, when we falter, when we lose hope, when we think our lives are in too much disarray to be redeemed. Thank you for removing our shame through Jesus. May we live as people who trust in Jesus, unashamed of You. In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

See you Sunday!