nehemiah 1-4

Below is something I originally wrote in preparation for the Philippines. Now, it's been tweaked for Haiti prep. I'm sharing it in hopes that the Lord will use it to mutually encourage anyone else who may read it, as I believe it's applicable not only to international missions but also to our daily lives. I really love the book of Nehemiah and all that God has to teach us in it! I pray that He will use this for His glory. 


(Nehemiah 1-4)

The book of Nehemiah is such an encouragement, even from the beginning! Notice the compassion in the prayer that Nehemiah lifts up to God on behalf of his people in Chapter 1. His heart for his people and the way he was so broken over the state of Israel and the wall in ruins should challenge/encourage us- are we broken for the souls of the Lost? Are we in despair when we see God's people choose sin instead of Christ? Are we broken over our own sin? Can we join with Paul in 2 Timothy 2:10? "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory."

Chapter 2... so much goodness! I'll just touch on it briefly...when the king asks Nehemiah what he is requesting, Nehemiah prays to God before answering the king (v.4). Also, at the end of v.8, Nehemiah notes that the king granted what he asked because the good hand of God was upon him. (check out Proverbs 16:9). At the end of v.18, it says that they strengthened their hands of the good work. This is what we are doing in preparing spiritually beforehand for this trip and also for praying for the souls we will come into contact with in Haiti! Preparation is definitely a good thing! :)

When I went to the Philippines, I was going to be on an agriculture team with 4 boys and one other girl. Nehemiah 3:12 was a big encouragement to me. It says: "Next to him Shallum the son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, repaired, he and his daughters." I wanted to include this since we are majority female (haha sorry, boys) to encourage y'all that it's ok to get dirty and 'go hard' in manual labor for the Lord! This guy's daughters helped to repair the wall of Jeruslaem with him! Awesome! We might not end up doing any manual labor, but I love how God proves Himself and how He encourages us, even in the little things.

Now, Chapter 4... (woop woop!)

Nehemiah 4:6 says, "So we built the wall. And all the wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work." It's no question that what was accomplished in this book of the Bible was amazing. (I'd like to look up the specifics of the wall's dimensions.. but either way, building a wall to surround and protect a city in 52 days with primitive tools is incredible!) I just love this verse because it talks of the awesome things that were rapidly taking place.. in Ch. 4 the wall is already built to half its height; and it points out that the people had a mind to work. This shows that if we put our minds to something and truly have a passion and drive to work and accomplish these goals, God can/will bless and use that in mighty ways! (Colossians 3:23-24: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.")

And I really love Neh. 4:9 also.. "And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night." I guess you have to read it in context with the rest of Nehemiah. But I was looking through some study material called 'Through the Bible in One Year' and in the Nehemiah section, it talks about a theme that has to do with this verse. Nehemiah definitely faced opposition to building the wall, as we will face opposition to the work that we are to do for God's glory in Haiti (some of us have already experienced this in various ways). The study material pointed out that the people took action against this opposition, in that they didn't just pray and sit around leaving opportunity for the enemy to surprise them when they were off guard. They prayed and set a guard as a protection. It is also mentioned that they carried weapons as they worked. They weren't going to be surprised by the enemy. They prayed for God's protection and they were proactive. What an encouragement for how we should be! We must be prayer warriors and we must stay in the Word. We also mustn't allow ourselves to be offguard at any moment.The enemy will be looking for ways to attack us in Haiti (and even before and after), but we won't give him the opportunity.
(check out the armor of God in Ephesians 6... our sword=the sword of the Spirit= the word of God... I encourage y'all to be memorizing Scripture, hiding God's word in our hearts. Maybe we can pick some to memorize together :) )

Lastly for now, Nehemiah 4:20, towards the end of the verse says, "...Our God will fight for us." Wow. I just love this! I love the mighty strength of our God! He's so powerful, yet He shows such gentle patience with us! The people prayed and were proactive, yet when it all came down to it.. they were trusting God to fight for them. After all, even with 'spears' and 'bows' we are nothing on our own. It is only with God on our side that we can accomplish anything! I love to think of our Father as our Protector.
When it all comes down to it, especially in regards to spiritual warfare, we need to remember and trust that 'Our God will fight for us!' (A friend pointed out that Exodus 14:14 also holds this promise!)


Please pray for our team as we prepare to go and as we spend time in Haiti (April 15-23). We are planning to do mostly evangelism, with the possibility of some construction work.

John 4:34-38: "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.""