Skip to content Episode 1 | Nehemiah: Leading Through Difficult Seasons Aug 24 · 35 min ...more
Episode 1 | Nehemiah: Leading Through Difficult Seasons
August 24, 2026 · 35 min
Series Nehemiah August 24, 2026 · 35 min · Nehemiah
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Nehemiah's Diary: Wisdom for Tough Times 0:00 And as I began to pray, God started leading me towards the book of Nehemiah. When we talk about difficult seasons seasons and I started to hear some of your difficult seasons and we started to hear some from our global0:10 family, their difficult seasons that they've been going through. And I started to read my Bible. I started to think and I and I clicked on something and saw that the president actually has, a what's called a president's0:21 diary. All of them do. And they have someone who documents what they do, every single day. And I was reading some of the past president's, diaries and what happened day to day, and I was like, this is neat. And then I0:31 begin to think, man, imagine this. Imagine this difficult season that we're in today. Imagine if you and I had a journal, like a personal journal or a personal diary from0:43 1 of the greatest leaders in the past 2500 years. Like if you and I had like and I and I brought it with me downstairs, but I I forgot it. But I had like his personal diary of 1 of the greatest0:55 leaders in the past 2500 years and the difficult season that you're going through and the difficult season that I'm going through. Imagine for a move for just a moment, if you were to take that diary every day and allow1:05 it to give you wisdom to go through your difficult season. You know how valuable that would be? Like 1 of the greatest leaders that led through a way, way, way more difficult time than we are in today and came out1:17 the other side pretty successful. Imagine if we had that and we could read his personal diary day to day and let it lead us. Well, that's exactly what we're going to do over the course of the next few weeks. Just you and1:28 me. We're just going to go through it page by page. You and I just page by page and let it speak to us and let it give us wisdom for this season that we're in. And I believe, I believe you can't1:40 put a price on that. Now, some of you who know who I'm going to be talking about, you've been in the church world a long time. The guy's name is Nehemiah. And if you've been in the church for some time, you know what1:49 he's famous for. And chances are, if you haven't been in church, if you wouldn't consider yourself a believer, or maybe this is the 1st time you're logged on checking things out for yourself, may chances are, even you2:00 have heard who Nehemiah is. And even you know kind of what he's famous for. He's famous for rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem, get this, in 52 days.2:12 That's insane construction right there. How many of you wish that the construction world would go faster? I can't even get someone to return my call in 52 days. I mean, we're sitting in temporary seats here locally2:23 because we can't even get seats in 52 days. I mean, but yet Nehemiah rebuilds an entire wall in 52 days. And here's the interesting thing about it, before we jump into his personal journal,2:35 just dive into there page by page. Though he was famous for building a wall, it wasn't just about building a wall. It wasn't just about building a wall. It was about2:47 building a leader who would then build a group of people, who would rebuild a culture, who would follow God in a world that doesn't. Sound relevant? Sounds like where we're at today. It2:59 was never just about a wall. It was something bigger than a wall. It wasn't just about that. And I want to tell you, for those watching today online and for those here today, the thing that you're going through is not3:10 just about that. There's something that God wants to do that's bigger in your life, and I want you to be able to see that it's not just about building the wall or fixing that thing. It's about3:22 building a leader, you, who would then build a group of people, the people that are around you, that would rebuild a culture, that would follow God in a world that doesn't. And so that's what I want us to look at3:34 today. Let's just peel this thing back up and just just look at it page by page to the Nehemiah's journal, his personal journal. Let's start off from the very beginning. It's Nehemiah chapter 1 verse 1. Says the words of3:44 Nehemiah, the son of Hochely. Now this explains just right off the bat who he is, who's writing this. He's not a, he's not a prophet. He's not a priest. He's not a he's3:56 he's not a prophet. He's not a priest. He's a layman. He he's a volunteer that would change the world. He's like you or I, someone that would just step up and and say, I'll volunteer for this. And yet God would use this4:07 volunteer to change the world. El says this, now it happened in the month of Kislev. Now this is early, December in the Jewish calendar. In the 20th year, while I was in Susa, the4:19 capital Now let me stop right there for just a moment. There's there's so much stuff as you you begin to read every word in this guy's diary here. This was kind of like Camp David for the Kings.4:28 You know4:29 how the presidents have Camp David? This place, this capital in Susa, there was a palace there that the Persian kings will go during the wintertime. And so here is Nehemiah saying, I'm the writer. I'm just a volunteer,4:40 but I'm the cup bearer. He's the 2nd man in charge to the king. And so he would taste his wine and his food to make sure that he wasn't being assassinated by poison. So he's the most trusted guy in the king and he's4:51 saying, everything is going great. I mean, I I am over here at Camp David, so to speak. I I I'm I'm sleeping in the greatest beds. I mean, it feels like I'm floating on a cloud. It The 4 Seasons5:03 has got nothing on this. The Ritz Carlton has got nothing on it. The greatest foods you can imagine, the brightest fruits, rack of lamb, bacon wrapped filet, whatever you need is here. Things5:15 are going well in the life of Nehemiah. And then this is what happens next. It says that, that Hanani, 1 of my brothers, most5:27 scholars say is literally a brother of his, and some of the men from Judah came. Now this is people from his hometown. And I asked him concerning the Jews who had escaped and survived the captivity about Jerusalem. And5:38 so everything's going well in the life of Nehemiah. And he says, hey, there's my brother. And there's some friends from my hometown. How are things going back home? And the reason that he asked this, by the way, is just5:49 to give you a little history. You remember King Nebuchadnezzar in 5 86? He was the king of Babylon. They took over and they they destroyed everything. They took all the Jews captive. And then you remember what happened6:00 after that though, that you had the Persian king, King Cyrus, who actually defeated Nebuchadnezzar, the, the Babylonians. And they took over. And King Cyrus did something really very generous. He allowed all the Jews to6:12 go back and begin to rebuild the temple. And so you see a small remnant go back and then you see even in the book of Ezra. You remember the book of Ezra? Another remnant goes back and starts, rebuilding the temple. And6:22 so Nehemiah is on this high and he's assuming that everything is going great. I mean, after all, I I mean, they've they've been released to rebuild the temple. I mean, after all, this is the 2nd group of remnant that is6:32 going back to rebuild the temple and things are going great in the land of Nehemiah. And he runs and says, how are things back home? How are things going? And so when he does, he begins to ask and he's basically saying,6:43 tell me the good news. And here's what he wrote down next in his journal. He says, they said to me, the remnant there in the providence who survived captivity are in great distress and reapproach.6:55 And the walls of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire. You can almost feel him his heart dropping as he's pinning this. You7:07 can almost feel you ever had bad news happen that you didn't understand? I I get those calls as a pastor sometimes that you don't wanna get. I heard about 1 today that I've got a call back in just a moment. You get a7:19 call that your heart just just drops, just sinks in the pit of your stomach. That's Nehemiah as he's pinning this. He says, I thought everything was great and I'm pinning it. And my it would be as if, we left7:31 Columbus, Georgia and Cascade Hills Church and we thought things were great and you run into someone and they said, no, you didn't hear. There is no cascade hills. You didn't hear what happened to the city of7:42 Columbus. It's rioting and looting and you didn't hear. They're in gray, gray distress. Now your heart would just sink. That's that's where Nehemiah is at. And Nehemiah could have done something. Nehemiah could have7:54 said, I hate to hear that. Everything's going well with me. Nehemiah could have done like, you know, we do in the south when in the south of, you know, the southern hospitality. If if you got someone in, you know,8:06 position of power to help you, but they're not going to help you. You know what they say? They say, well, bless your heart. And it's like, well, that didn't do me no good. That's another way of saying, well, you're just8:15 up the creek. You know? Nehemiah could have done that, but he didn't. Nehemiah says this, when I heard these words, I sat down, took his breath away. He wept. And look at this, he mourned for8:26 days. And I began to fast and pray before the God of heaven. And so now he's sitting here and he's mourning. And before we even go any further, I know we've only went 4 verses. There's already 3 things that if we're8:38 gonna lead through difficult seasons, that if you're gonna lead through difficult seasons, that if you're watching at home are gonna lead through difficult seasons that you must must know. So get a pen out if you got 18:46 or get your iPhone out, Evernote, whatever you need to get. But remember these things. The 1st thing if you're going to leave the difficult season is you got to be willing to look at the problem. You got to be willing to8:56 look at the problem. It's impossible to solve a problem that you cannot see. You cannot fix a problem that you're unwilling to look at and we can't complain about a problem that we're unwilling to9:08 confront. Correct? We we gotta open it up. We got we gotta look at it and we get we gotta many people that I know that they've got financial problems or relationship problems with this and that. You know what they do?Hearing the Bad News 9:19 They just kind of hope it gets better. Or I'll, well I, you know, I what's your retirement plan? I don't know. Just kind of hope 1 day when I get there just kind of all works out. You know what's you know why we do that?9:30 Let's get on. We we do that because we know it's a problem and who wants to look at a problem. Right? It's already painful enough to know in the back of our mind that it's there. We We don't wanna look at it and address9:40 it and fix the relationship problem or fix the financial problem or get it or get it's less painful in the moment just just just to just to leave it in the back of our mind and hope it all works out. But if you're gonna9:51 lead to a difficult season, you must know something. You've gotta look at the problem. You've gotta look at look at verse 2. Here's what he says. He says, 1 of my brothers and some of the men came from Judea and when10:01 they did, I asked them concerning how they were doing. He asked them. He opens up the hood and looks at the problem. And it's the same for you and I. Sometimes the pain of looking at your problem10:13 is less than the pain of regret that will come later by not looking at the problem. So if you've got an area in your life, you you need to open it up. You know, open the hood and look at it and see what needs to be10:22 fixed. So let me ask you, what is the area of your life that you need to look at? What's the area of your life that you've you've you've closed the back door to that thing? You've locked it and you've said, I just hope10:31 it works out. Maybe if you're gonna get through this difficult season, you gotta be willing to look at the problem. Leaders look at the problem. My son, he's 9 years old. I use him for examples all the time. He's like a10:40 built in illustration. I mean, because stuff just happens all the time. And, he's on the autism spectrum. He's awesome. His name is Elijah. And we're trying to teach Elijah to, be more aware of his surroundings, you10:52 know. So to be like, we're trying to get him to tell us how he feels or what he experiences because he he doesn't quite do that. And so 1st day of school the other day and you know that he hates school. School is the s11:02 word in our home. I mean, he hates school. Just can't stand school and so he calced down. You know what he said? That my favorite day of school is the last day of school. That's what he said. So it it kid after after my11:13 his own father's heart. And, he we 1st had school, we said, how how what did you see? What'd you experience? Did you see anything new today? You know you know what he said? He he said, I I I yeah. I saw,11:25 the 2 kids had the same face. Think about what he he's never heard he's never heard the word twin before. He's never saw a twin before. He said 2 kids that yeah, mom. 2 kids.11:37 They've they had the same face. I was like, well, that's that's pretty interesting, isn't it? We're trying to teach them to look around, see this. When you talk about problems, look at them. Look at them. See what you11:48 may find there. Nehemiah, unfortunately, looks at the problems and he he asked him about it and it becomes worse than he actually thought. Sometimes when we do that, that's that's what happens. He says this, the remnant11:57 there in the providence who survived the captivity were in great distress and reapproach. Great distress. Great distress. Doesn't that sound like our nation today? Let's be12:09 honest. We're gonna be 1 in the church all over the world, the body of Christ. You know, we're supposed to do, we're we're supposed to be 1. Whether we come from Republican or Democrat or black or white or old or young,12:19 we're 1. You remember Jesus's prayer for us? He says, may they be 1. And so we can we can talk about stuff like this. Isn't our nation in a bad bad spot? Aren't believers of of Christ in great12:31 distress when we see this. Great distress when we turn on the news and we see this. I believe that those who are of the Christian faith, it it it it's just like this. I believe that they see this stuff and it12:43 breaks their heart. I mean we're living in a day where innocent babies are being killed and no one's really talking about it. We're living in a day where Bibles are being burned and this is somehow okay. This is America.12:55 This is not we're not in another country. We're living in a day where flags are being burned. We're living in a day where churches are being fined in the state of California for opening up by their governors. We're13:07 living in a day where division is rampant, where a country is in distress because there's a real war going on between evil and good. And that's why the church is in distress. That's why believers are in in distress. It13:18 says this And and this is just so relevant. This this guy's journal it is as relevant as it gets to us. Look at verse 3. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down and the gates are burned with fire.13:30 Now I know we don't we don't have walls around our cities. I understand that. But the walls in these days represented the strength of the people's gods. The walls in these days were the identity13:42 of their God. And now here's God's own people without walls, without protection. Officers would sit on the walls and they would defend the city. Now there's no officers because there's no walls. There's rioting. There's13:54 looting. There's stealing. There's killing. There's rape. There's all this stuff. I mean, how relevant is the book of Nehemiah at this moment? Extremely relevant, isn't it? And just like it says, they were in14:06 great distress and great reapproach. Now we must look at the problem. But 2nd thing we must do is this. We must be burdened by the problem. We must be burdened by the problem. What is the old saying that,Three Steps: Look, Be Burdened, Pray 14:18 all anything that takes for evil to exist is for enough good people to say and do nothing. We must be burdened by the problem. So Nehemiah says, so when it was when I heard these words, I sat down and I wept and I14:29 mourned for days. Does what you see going on in the nation, does what you see going on in your life, does it burden you? Does it burden you? It should. Does it burden you?14:41 Adelie the greatest preacher in the in the in the last hundred years, he said this quote talking about being burdened and, his name is actually dad. He says, and he's got the greatest looking middle son you will ever14:53 see. It should have been a model but, yeah, who knows? Nobody nobody saw the talent that he saw himself. He says, God will not use a person greatly who does not care deeply. God will not use a person greatly who does15:05 not care deeply. Does what you see burden you? Does what you see concern you? Listen for what your soul weeps for. Listen for what your soul that may be your mission in life. There's maybe a single mother15:16 watching online and maybe she's thinking or maybe she's here tonight thinking, is there's gotta be more to life than this? I'm struggling. I'm doing everything I can for this this young kid. Does your soul weep for him?15:28 Maybe you're looking out there for a mission or your mission is your home. Maybe your greatest ministry is being a mother. May maybe what what is the thing in your life that makes you weep? When we begin to see these15:38 things, we must remember again, it's it's more than just a wall. It's more than just that thing that you think it is. It's more than just a problem that you see on the surface. It's more than just what15:50 you what you think it's about. When we hear abortions and we hear burning of cities and we hear division, we hear racial injustice and we categorize all police officers as bad because some of them16:02 are bad. I mean, imagine if they did that to us Christians. Right? I mean, good grief. We wouldn't have a leg to stand on. You know, when we when we see these things, I want to tell you it's more than what you see on the16:13 surface. It's a soul problem. It's a spiritual problem. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that changes the human heart. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that16:25 changes the human heart. That's it. You change the heart with the gospel of Jesus Christ and you change the decision that they make. That's why the church is so urgent. That's why you are so important. That's why16:37 our time is now more than ever, that we must stand and we must share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the unchurched world. If we do nothing, then if we don't do that, it doesn't change. Nothing changes. We go16:49 around shouting all these surface issues when it's a soul issue. It is a soul issue that only Jesus Christ can change because he changes the human heart. And when he changes the heart, he changes the decision. When he17:01 changes the heart, he changes the decision to kill an unborn baby. When he changes the heart, he changes the decision to vote for a person that would kill a baby. When he changes the heart, he changes the decision on how17:13 we see other people. When he changes the heart, he changes how we view authority. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only thing that will fix the things we see today because it's a soul issue and anything else is17:24 categorizing it as a surface issue. Does it burden you? Does it burden if it burdens you, then you've got the solution. The solution is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now here's17:36 what happens. The next thing we must do is we must look at the problem. We must be burned by the problem. But we must remember to pray about the problem. We overlook prayer like it's just, you know, okay, last resort.17:47 No. Nothing in the spiritual world happens without prayer. That should scare you. That should concern you. Nothing in the spiritual world happens without17:59 prayer. It's prayer that changes things. We can push and we can pull and we can do all the things we want until we're exhausted. But until we're on our knees like Nehemiah, nothing happens. Did you know that Nehemiah,18:10 when he says there that he was in the, the, the month there of December, do you know that he spent 4 months praying before he did something? 4 months of fasting and praying. Is what18:22 you're going through today worth you doing without a meal and fasting and praying? Is what you're going through worth you getting serious about your prayer life? Nothing happens until we get, and we begin to pray,18:33 and we begin to weep with God over the problems. That's what Nehemiah did for 4 months. We had people during this pandemic and I know there's 1000000 different decisions. It's been difficult for everybody.18:45 It's been difficult leading the church that you don't see. Try that. It was already hard enough, you know, when you when you did meet. But you during this whole thing, you had people you're not, you're not, you know, if18:56 you if you open up, you don't love your neighbor. But then the people on the other side that if you don't open up, you're a Christian coward. And and they don't know what all goes on. And you know what we did? We just19:05 simply said, you know what? Forget opinions of others. How about we just pray and we ask God? I don't know. It's just a thought. It's God's church. He said, I will build my church. Not you will build my church. I will19:14 build my church. And so we just begin to pray. And slowly we begin to feel that now's the time. Now's the time to start reopening. And then we felt led to get here and get with volunteers and say, let's create19:26 the safest and cleanest environment. So that when that lost person comes in a few weeks, I don't see this this lasting over 3 weeks. You guys are smart people. We'll get trained when we can we can go to the races19:38 and it's time. But what I did not want is I did not want, lost people coming here and being unorganized and and and that's being, you know, chaotic because it's an entire different system. And so I'm so so19:50 grateful for you guys. And when we look at that, we, we knew that we began to had to start to really get serious about prayer. And we began to to to feel God leading us to do this. And20:02 so, are you praying about the situation in your life? Because Nehemiah now prays. Now we're not going to go through his prayer, but I would encourage you this week. Go through Nehemiah's prayer. It's 1 of the most20:12 powerful prayers in all the Bible. Use his prayer as your example. 1 of the things that Nehemiah does in his prayer is he prays and he uses God's very words. He recites back to God what God20:24 promised. It's 1 of the most powerful things you can do is remind God of what he promised. Not because God needs a reminder, but because you need the reminder. Because I need the reminder, because we need the reminder of20:35 what God has promised. And so Nehemiah goes through this prayer and there's 2 more things that stand out for you. You got time for 2 more? I mean, we have been out for a while. Right? If you don't, maybe your, your20:45 problem's not that bad. I need like, I got time for like 9 more. Okay? And so, here's what he says in Acts. He writes this, Oh Lord, I beseech you. May your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant,20:57 and the prayer of your servants who delight and revere your name, and make your servant successful today, and grant him compassion before this man. He's saying, give me favor. Give me compassion before this21:09 man. Now I was the cupbearer to the king. So he's saying, give me favor when I go and I have my opportunity, with the king to tell him that I need to do something about this. Now, why would he say make me21:20 successful? Why is it why would why would it matter? Why would he say make make me successful? Give me give me favor in his eyes. Give me compassion in front of the king. The king's most trusted man was the cup21:32 bearer. The guy that would taste his his food and his wine and make sure it wasn't poison. So he's the cup bearer to the king Artaxerxes. And now, he finds something out. That King Artaxerxes was the21:44 very person that issued the law to stop the building of the wall. See, they they were already they were already building. Ezra had already they started building the temple and started. And Artaxerxes over in Ezra21:56 4 21. It says this, it says, so now I issued now I issued a decree to make the men stop working that this city may not be rebuilt until a decree is issued by me. Do you you know that was King Artaxerxes? So22:08 now the very guy that he's working for is the guy that wrote the law saying, stop. Now, here's something that's also fascinating and interesting too. In that particular reason, once a king did this, he never redid it.22:20 He said, unless it's issued by me, but they never redid it. It would be like going back on his word. Too much pride for that. Once they did it, it's the law. It's what the young people say. It is what it is. You know, it22:31 is what it is. That that you don't change that. It's in stone. It's kinda like the dumb ticketing system that we tried last week. It just didn't work. I don't I don't like it. And I told them on Wednesday, I said, I22:42 don't like that. Let's just cut that out. Can we go ahead and cut it? No. It is what it is. This week. I said, alright. But when I get in front of them, I'm telling them I'm cutting it. So next week, come without the22:51 tickets. Okay? Sign up to volunteer, we'll come without the tickets. But it is what it is. And now this guy is saying, this is the law. This is a stone. And Nehemiah says, I need favor. Because in those days, in this23:01 region, they do not reverse the law. And I'm about to ask the guy that wrote the law to change his law. Now, what I see in that is this. I see23:13 that things that should not be done, can be done when we pray. Mountains that cannot be moved, can be moved when we pray. Impossible thing. Do you have23:25 something impossible in your life? You got something impossible in your life. Well, here's the good news. Though the king may not have been willing to revert it, Nehemiah gets in touch with the real king, the 1 in23:37 charge. And he says, I know he won't do it, but I know you can do it. And And maybe for someone today, we need to know that that if there's something impossible in our life, go to the king that's got the power. Go to the23:46 king that's got the authority to change whatever it is in your life. But we must understand that the 4th thing to this and and this is this. I mean, think about it. Think about it. Here's here's the Amiah, a son of an23:57 exile. Now now just in the right place at the right time. I mean, in the in the history of the world, here's this guy that's now the 2nd man24:09 to the most powerful guy in the world. What are the odds? What are the chances? 4th thing I want you to know is you're in this season for a reason. You're in this season for a reason. I believe for24:21 Nehemiah, the light bulb clicked and said, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Maybe God put me here for a reason. Maybe he putYour Season Has Purpose—Be Available 24:33 me here for a reason. And Nehemiah now realized this is God ordained. I want you to know that in your life. I want you to understand that you're in this season for a reason. That God has placed you in this very moment of24:43 time for a reason, for you to lead through it. That in the entire universe, the span of the entire world that he has put you to lead that family. You to help rebuild this church. You to help, do24:55 that thing that he's putting on your heart that you're so burdened for. And guess what? It's you that God is looking to use. We always look out there. It's you. It's you that he's looking to. Here's a layman, a25:07 volunteer of Nehemiah that would change the world. And I wanna tell you something because some someone doesn't believe that they've got what it takes to leave. Someone doesn't believe that they got25:19 what it takes to become all that God wants them to be. And that's a lie from the pit of hell. God has put in you everything you need to lead through this difficult season. I've25:31 got electricity inside my walls. I can't see that it's got power behind the walls. I can't I can't see it. But when I flick the little switch, the lights light up the entire25:42 house. You've got power inside of you. Last time I checked my Bible, it says, greater is he that works in you. Greater is he that is in you than it is the world. Last time I checked my Bible, it says the same spirit that25:53 rose Christ Jesus from the dead now lives in you. In you is everything that you need. Stop going around defeated like you're weak, like you're feeble. That's a lie. You've got everything you26:04 need to lead. You've got it all. You you you're you're in this season for a reason. Can I tell you something that, you know, I never thought what I never thought what God would do in my26:16 life? I I never thought that. I'll be vulnerable for you for just a month. I've told you a little bit about this. Do you know that my 1st I've come to try to get my 1st job and all my friends go into high school. We the26:27 the 1 of his dad owns a, like, a chicken place. It was called Willie T's chicken. Some of you remember that. This is way, way back, like the 1st Willie T's Chicken. You know that all my friends got over there and they26:39 put their application in, they got I was the only 1 not even qualified to flip chicken. Don't laugh. That hurts. That's a wound. It's still you're pressing26:51 all everybody in here just Oh, man. What a loser. Yeah. That's what I felt like. Not even you couldn't even flip27:00 flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip27:00 flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip27:00 flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip flip you know why? God didn't need me to learn how to flip chicken. Okay? And and so then I went and I began to work for my father in a non profit leadership company and began27:12 to do very, very well in learning leadership and that stuff. But then I had this itch that I wanted to go be a realtor. I wanted to I wanted to sell houses. But that's what I wanted to do, is sell houses. And so I went27:23 and, this is embarrassing. I've never failed a test in my entire life. I failed it not once but twice. Again, you're laughing. I'm kidding. No, seriously. Never failed it.27:35 Now, do you think that I am that dumbed? Don't answer that. Or do you think that it was God's will that he didn't want me to sell houses here on earth. He wanted me to sell some27:46 houses up there in heaven. Right? He he wanted me to learn leadership. He wanted me to learn the ins and outs of the church. He wanted so I stayed there and did very, very, very well. It set me up to this day27:58 that that 1 that 1 decision to stay in the the leadership company. And then you know the story is my dad, began to have heart problems and staff problems. They they called me over and said, hey, help help your dad28:10 out. I never knew that God had a plan for my life. I never knew. Okay? I was disappointed about not being able to flip chicken. And I just say that to say to someone today,28:22 that you're in this season for a reason. What if you needed this season for your next? What if it was so so important that what you learned in this season was vital for your success and then the next?28:34 Because I don't believe for 1 moment that Nehemiah, being the 2nd man to the greatest leader in the world at that time, I don't believe that was by28:45 chance. I believe that this old boy was going to build a wall, and build a group of people, and do some things. And he needed some leadership, and he was right beside the guy that could give it to him. And I want to tell28:56 you that maybe this is your cup bearing season. Maybe you're a cup bearer. Maybe you just 2nd. Maybe you just feel like you just 2nd all the time. Maybe you feel like you're overqualified and underpaid. Maybe you feel29:08 like you're in a spot where you just don't know why I'm here. And I want to tell you that you're here for a reason. You're in this season for the reason. Had he not been up under him, he wouldn't have learned the29:17 leadership that he needed to do. To do the job that he needed to do. And so lastly, this is as we look at Nehemiah's prayer, we see something that he calls himself over and over and over, your29:29 servant, your servant, your servant, your servant, your servant, your servant, your servant. Make yourself available to God to use.29:41 It's been said that it's not our ability, but it's our availability that makes God use us. It's not your ability. If you don't come to God and say, I can do this well, I can do that well. I can you know29:53 that God never uses those people. It's the broken people, the messed up people, the flawed people. Says he puts his treasures in jars of clay. There's not a day that I wake up that I don't think,30:05 God if you stop using me no more, I get it. I totally get it. It's when you're broken and you've got flaws and you know you don't have nothing to give God, but just, hey, I'm available to do whatever. Big or small.30:16 That's a person that God can use. The person that comes to God and says, hey, I'm I'm pretty good if you'd like me to do something for you. He never does anything with that person. Never. It's30:27 always the people like Nehemiah that doesn't know jack squat. It's a country term. We're in the south for those of you out west. About construction. He doesn't know nothing about30:39 construction. And yet he would use a what? A volunteer that just simply made himself available. I wonder what God could do in your30:51 life. I wonder what God could do in this local local church if he'd volunteer. I wonder what God could do in your community if you'd volunteer. I wonder what he could do in your family. I wonder what he could do in this31:03 world with a group of Nehemiah's, some 2nd placers, some cupbearers, that would just say, God, I'm burned by what I see.31:15 I make myself available. I make myself available. Whatever you want me. No jobs too big. No jobs too small. I make myself available. And when I look into the the local room here, that's what I see. I see a bunch of31:27 Nehemiahs willing to come, willing to come put their hands to the work and, and do something great for God. I wanna I wanna tell you, those are the things that we need, just in the beginning of31:38 this guy's journal, to lead through difficult seasons. Because this the story was never just about a wall. It was never just about a31:50 wall. It was about God building a leader, you, who would then build a group of people, the people that follow you, who would rebuild a culture, who would follow God in a world32:02 that, well, doesn't. Let God use you. He can he has a great plan for your life, and he wants to do something greater than you ever imagined or dreamed.32:14 Now, if you're here today or you're watching online and you say, I'd love to, you know, let God use me. But Brent, here's the deal. I don't even know God. I don't even know how to know God. Is it like aThe Gospel Call: Let God Use You 32:26 bunch of rules I gotta do or this or that? Let me tell you really quickly how easy and simple it is and give you an opportunity to know God. It's this simple, knowing the fact that God loves you.32:38 Maybe Maybe you've never been told that in your entire life and I wanna tell you that God loves you. Here's how I know this. Not because some song that sang it or this or that. I know it because God proved it. He showed32:48 it. He sent his only son Jesus to come live a sinless life for us. See, God is holy. He's perfect. He's without flaw, without error. We are sinful. Our sins separate us from33:00 Holy God. But he loves you. And he loves you. And he loves you so much, that he sent his son to live a perfect life. Something we could never do. And to die on a cross. And on that cross,33:12 God the father poured out his wrath, his anger, his hatred towards my sin and towards your sin, on his own son. His own son was not not a not a victim. He was what?33:25 A volunteer. A volunteer. He'd lay down his life and say, I'll stand in their place, so that you could be right with them again. He died in our place, took what we deserved, and then went to a grave and he didn't stay33:37 there. And that's the message of Christianity. He did everything that he said he was gonna do. He predicted his birth, his death, his resurrection, and pulled it off. Now if you're gonna put your faith in something,33:47 because eternity is too long to be wrong, just throwing it out there, I would put mine in the God that proved it. Predicted his birth, death, resurrection, and pulled it off all for33:59 you in hopes that you would give your life to him and enter this extraordinary relationship that he wants to have with you. If you'd like to have Christ in your life today, I want to lead you in a prayer where you can do34:10 so. Would you bow your heads with me as we go to the Lord in prayer together. Father, thank you so much for your word. I thank you so much for the book of Nehemiah that is so relevant to us today and what we're going34:20 through, Lord. Use us to do something great for you and for your name. If there's someone watching online today or someone in this room that needs you, I want to lead them in a prayer at this time34:32 where they can do so. All you've got to do is just silently just say in your heart these words and believe on them with everything you've got. Put your faith and your trust in them. Them. Say, Father, I know that I'm a34:42 sinner. And I know that I cannot save myself. I believe that your son Jesus died on a cross for me. And I believe34:54 that your son Jesus rose from the dead. And I believe that your son Jesus is Lord. So today by faith, the best35:05 way I know how, I repent of my sins. I'm sorry for my sins and I ask Jesus to come into my heart and save me. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.35:17 If you just gave your life to God, that's the greatest decision of your life. If you're watching online, there's gonna be a number on the screen. I'd love to send you some content to you to start out right in your35:26 Christian journey.In this video 0:00 Nehemiah's Diary: Wisdom for Tough Times9:17 Hearing the Bad News14:11 Three Steps: Look, Be Burdened, Pray24:23 Your Season Has Purpose—Be Available32:15 The Gospel Call: Let God Use You
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