Mindy Johnson

Wow
I am reading in Nehemiah chapter 3 where they are working together to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

As I read along the many names, it almost started to bore me. Then I took a step back and really read it.
I underlined the words of the significant pieces and places in the wall, I underlined professions of people who worked together.

I am wowed at what I am reading. You've got priests working, daughters working, perfume makers, merchants...people of kinds of different trades, working alongside each other rebuilding this wall. (Of course, their sections were wide, so it may not have always been close in proximity, but the sections were neighbors.)

"for the people worked with all their heat." vs. 6

Just for a minute, image the scene. It's rubble, it's destruction. It's not pretty. It's dirty, muddy, messy. It's depressing.

And it sits like that until God puts the fire in Nehemiah's heart and gives him a passion for bringing his people together not only to build, but to unite them.

And you've got neighbors working together, HARD work, sweating, grunting, pushing, pressing on! And they are working on their part so diligently, and then perhaps for a minute, they step back enough to look around them and see everyone around them at work, and seeing how it will all come together. The work in progress. How it must have have looked to see everyone working together!
And the wall is being rebuilt, but as it is being rebuilt, it is being reconnected

Is your neighborhood, is your church, is your community disconnected? How about your family? Your marriage?

Even the best and most healthy marriages have a break in the wall at times. Some have been completely destroyed. What do you do?
If you walk away, you most likely are leaving quite an awful mess of rubble behind.

I can think of times where Jeff and I have been disconnected. And sometimes we haven't realized that our marriage wall has had some wear and tear in it, until a big wind comes. And so we have an argument, or whatever, and we look at the hurt. We look at the rubble on the floor. And together we lift the first big boulder, if you will...and we together put it back into place.

And in Nehemiah, he had them rebuilding it while guarding it at the same time. And he posted guards to protect it.

If our relationships would be like this...rebuild, maintain, growth, all the while on the lookout for any wind or enemy that would come to destroy it, and we are equip to battle them off.

And if we could only hear the trumpet of one in need, and we pause our building for a minute as we join together to fight for each other.