Standing Guard

Ever watched anyone recover from a sinful decision? Maybe the sin wasn't a personal decision. Perhaps it was inflicted upon the person by another- a wayward child, a deceptive boss, an unfaithful spouse. It's a painful process to watch, but one that can certainly result in beauty for ashes. But sometimes the ashes make for more juicy conversations that are all-too enticing. What a grievous thing to hear or witness a Christian relishing in the sin of another or dredging up what the Lord has already forgiven and covered. Perhaps it is our pride that entices us to participate in this type of conversation. As long as I'm pointing to another, no one will notice me and since I've never done {insert sin here}, I'll look really good!

I recently had the privilege of attending The Gospel Coalition Women's Conference with some dear women from my church. Because we knew the speakers would be teaching through Nehemiah, a couple of us studied through the book in the weeks prior to the conference. God reveals so much about His character through this book. I'll freely admit that I had never read through Nehemiah until now. What a loss! In this oft overlooked book, God is working to rebuild His people through rebuilding the physical city of Jerusalem and through gathering the dispersed. Gross sin among the nation of Israel is what led to the dispersion and the destruction of Jerusalem. So now God is working to rebuild the nation in preparation for the eventual birth of Jesus. I want to be very careful to avoid making personal application where none should be made, but it does seem fair to draw an important lesson from the situation described in chapter 4. Because of the very real danger posed by those who did not want to see the nation of Israel rebuilt, many of the Israelites were charged with the task of standing guard over those who were rebuilding.

With all of the background given, let's get to the point. When a brother or sister is doing the hard work of rebuilding his or her life, you stand guard. You guard the work, you help with the work when called and you keep out the enemies.

Now...go read Nehemiah.