“Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision.” And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, “Let us rise up and build.” So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” Nehemiah 2:17-18
Jerusalem had been destroyed, the people sent into exile. Many years later, the Jewish people were able to begin to return to their homeland. They slowly began to rebuild. However, by the time of Nehemiah, there still wasn’t everything rebuilt. The walls to the city still laid in ruin. Nehemiah felt called by God to leave his job as the king’s cupbearer for a time and to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.
Nehemiah speaks to the people in Jerusalem, those that had returned to the homeland. He rallies them to the cause of rebuilding the walls. It would be tough work. But God was with them.
There are times in our life when we need to rebuild. In those times, we need to turn to God to provide the strength, the ability, the means in order to rebuild. This week, let us be like the Israelites in saying “Let us rise up and build” and strengthen our hands for the good work we have been called to do.