The Rebuilder of Broken Walls and Lives

To say that Nehemiah had an intense passion for God and things of God would be a
bit of an understatement. While still in Babylon, he asked for a report concerning the
walls of Jerusalem and wept as mourned upon receiving it, then went into a time of
prayer and fasting. 2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of
Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the
captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the
province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken
down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.
4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and
mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,
5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that
keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:
6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the
prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of
Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have
sinned against thee: both I and my father's house have sinned.
7 We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments,
nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses.
8 Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses,
saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
9 But if ye turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though there
were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from
thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.
Nehemiah 1:2-9

With a broken heart for his nation, he cried out to God in repentance. And when he
received permission from King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem, he went with a fire
in his belly and a purpose in his spirit. Once he got there, he went and inspected the
gates and the walls of the city at night without any of the rulers or nobles knowing.
After doing so, chapter 2 verse 17 and 18 records his statement to them. 17 Then I
said to them, You see the bad situation we are in - how Jerusalem lies in ruin, and its
gates are burned with fire. Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, then we may
no longer be a disgrace. 18 Then I told them the hand of my God which was upon me
for good, and also 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.

Just as in our lives, when the enemy sees us doing the work of God, he attacks to try
to tear it down, so did the enemies of Nehemiah attack when they found out that the
walls were being rebuilt. They were not going to stand for the work of the Lord to go
forward. Nehemiah would not been moved, swayed, or discouraged and admonished
the people of Israel to build, yet to be ready for battle at the same time. 13 So I set
[armed men] behind the wall in places where it was least protected; I even thus used
the people as families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 I looked [them over]
and roe up and said to the nobles and officials and the other people. Do not be afraid
of the enemy; [earnestly] remember the Lord and imprint Him [on your minds], great
and terrible, and [take from Him courage to] fight for your brethren your sons, your
daughters, your wives, and your homes. 15 And when our enemies heard that their
plot was known to us and that God had frustrated their purpose, we all returned to
the wall, everyone to his work. 16 And from that time forth, half of my servants
worked at the task, and the other half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of
mail; and the leaders stood behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built the
wall and those who bore the burdens loaded themselves so that everyone worked with
one hand and held a weapon in the other hand, 18 And every builder had his sword
girded by his side and so worked. And he who sounded the trumpet was at my side. 19
And I said to the nobles and officials and the rest of the people, The work is great and
scattered, and we are separated on the wall, one far from another. 20 In whatever
place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.
Nehemiah 4:13-20

I believe whole heartedly that these scriptures are important to where we are in time
right now. Think back over the past 12 months and all that has happened. Our
churches have been shut down and we are not allowed to gather together, we are kept
scattered and separated one from another. We need to take heed of Nehemiah's words
"Do not be afraid of the enemy; [earnestly] remember the Lord and imprint Him
[on your minds], great and terrible, and [take from Him courage to] fight for your
brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your homes." and "The work
is great and scattered, and we are separated on the wall, one far from another. In
whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will
fight for us." Has someone in your life sounded the trumpet and needed prayer,
assistance due to their livelihood being hindered, or losing their business? Has
someone you know tested positive or even passed away from this virus? We must
rally to them and stand on the word, praying and seeking the Lord in agreement with
them. Our God will fight for us! Nehemiah 8:10 goes on to say Then [Ezra] told
them, Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for
whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not grieved and
depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and stronghold.

Think back to your life before salvation, or if you've never accepted Jesus, really take
a look at your life right now. Take inventory of the brokenness and disrepair of both
your spirit and fleshly man. Before Jesus, ours walls of protection are shattered, and
lay in rubble. The gates were burned and left open to the enemy. We had no line of
defense. Like Nehemiah, I have no doubt that Jesus has heard the report that we were
or are in ruins and it breaks His heart. He has received permission from the King, His
Father, to rebuild our walls. So, when we accept Him as Savior, He comes, takes
inventory and begins the work.

What is our wall? I was thinking on this and saw and imagine of a mortared wall in
my mind. I saw Jesus placing the bricks into the wall and upon each brick was a
scripture that I had written on my heart. Each brick or scripture fortified my wall of
protection. I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, but I did the best I
could so that I could provide a visual of what I was seeing and have shared it below.
What are the scriptures? The Word of God, and if you read a few posts back on the
scriptures for healing, at the very end I shared the revelation I was given that you can
not spell sword without WORD. We stand on the wall with Jesus, our tool in one hand
and the sword in the other. Those who built the wall and those who bore the burdens
loaded themselves so that everyone worked with one hand and held a weapon in the
other hand Nehemiah 4:17

What did Jesus say concerning burdens? 1 Peter 5: 6-7 says 6 Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: 7 Casting
all your care (burdens) upon Him; for he careth for you. He is ready to rebuild your
wall and your life. He will take all of your brokenness and restore it into a beautiful
thing. Isaiah 61:3 says To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of
heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord,
that HE MIGHT BE GLORIFIED. Allow Him to rebuild your life. Allow Him to
rebuild your wall of defense with His word. Allow Him to restore you beauty, your
joy, your praise and plant you firm in Him. He is the rebuilder of broken walls and
lives.