11-12 And so I arrived in Jerusalem. After I had been there three days, I got up in the middle of the night, I and a few men who were with me. I hadn’t told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with us was the one I was riding.
13-16 Under cover of night I went past the Valley Gate toward the Dragon’s Fountain to the Dung Gate looking over the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken through and whose gates had been burned up. I then crossed to the Fountain Gate and headed for the King’s Pool but there wasn’t enough room for the donkey I was riding to get through. So I went up the valley in the dark continuing my inspection of the wall. I came back in through the Valley Gate. The local officials had no idea where I’d gone or what I was doing—I hadn’t breathed a word to the Jews, priests, nobles, local officials, or anyone else who would be working on the job.
17-18 Then I gave them my report: “Face it: we’re in a bad way here. Jerusalem is a wreck; its gates are burned up. Come—let’s build the wall of Jerusalem and not live with this disgrace any longer.” I told them how God was supporting me and how the king was backing me up.
They said, “We’re with you. Let’s get started.” They rolled up their sleeves, ready for the good work.
19 When Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they laughed at us, mocking, “Ha! What do you think you’re doing? Do you think you can cross the king?”
20 I shot back, “The God-of-Heaven will make sure we succeed. We’re his servants and we’re going to work, rebuilding. You can keep your nose out of it. You get no say in this—Jerusalem’s none of your business!”
Nehemiah was passionate for God in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem together with a cautious mind. He needed to have a first-hand understanding and hence he inspected the conditions of the walls by himself at night time. He truly understood the difficulties and challenges of the rebuilding works before he spoke to Jews and invited them to participate into this ministry. Nehemiah was a true leader, inspiring the people to move forward by referring these people back to God through sharing his own story of experiencing God's amazing guidance in receiving the support of the king. People's heart was moved and ready to start working for God. Enemies were exasperated and mocked at their works.
My Father God, ministry is always a spiritual warfare. Enemies are always ready to fight back. People of God requires inspiration from You and Your work. Being a leader of the church, help me to personally experience Your work and listen to your word first. Strengthen me with a heart like Nehemiah that I can be tenacious in facing challenges and trials of ministry. Most importantly is to draw me closely to you everyday, listening to your voice and immersing in your Fatherly love that are always the source of my strength and joy in following your way.
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