Vision to Build (Nehemiah 2)

Bible Passage: Nehemiah 2

In the previous chapter, Nehemiah learned about the state of Jerusalem and was moved to the heart. He brought the issue before God in prayer, but he didn’t leave things there. Prayer is good, but prayer coupled with action is even better. In chapter 2, Nehemiah takes steps towards being a solution to the issue that he has identified.

The first thing he did was to ask the king for help. This is something that it would have been easy to overlook, but it is by asking and finding a favourable response that Nehemiah saw the outworking of God’s providence, as is stated in verse 11: “And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.” Nehemiah grasped that it is often necessary when building for God to ask for help from other people, including those who are not themselves believers.

The next thing that Nehemiah did was to present himself to the governors of the province with the king’s letters. He was not well received and almost certainly knew this would be the case. These were the same governors who had previously opposed rebuilding in Ezra’s day, yet Nehemiah knew that he needed to have the hard meeting where he presents the king’s letters. That way, however displeased they may have been, nobody could accuse Nehemiah of doing wrong or acting deceitfully.

Thirdly, he did some reconnaissance of the city. He was there for three days, and he went in secret to different parts of the city to gain personal experience of the problem. He wanted to see just how dilapidated the wall really was, and how much damage there was to the gates. He didn’t want to pitch a vision from mere theory. Moreover, he did not tell anybody what he was doing. He didn’t mention it to his supporters or his opponents, he simply did it. This is an important stage of pursuing a God-given vision. Whilst it can seem exciting to share with others what God is saying, before this comes personally looking into exactly what God is asking for. Taking the burden and investigating the details of the problem helps to reinforce and deepen the burden, gives you credibility as somebody who knows the issue and allows the strategy for a solution to begin to form.

It is only once these steps are completed that Nehemiah pitched the vision to others. He shared with them the scope of the problem as he saw it, declared his intention and called them to act. To back up his call, he shares testimony of the story so far, including an account of the burden God has given to him and his interactions with the king. The vision inspired the people, and they shared ownership of it with Nehemiah, deciding to rise up and build.

Potential Applications:

• Invite people to think about the things that God has laid on their heart. Perhaps you could give out little bits of paper and invite people to identify one practical thing that is the next step towards seeing the thing on their heart become reality.
• This could be a great moment to follow Nehemiah’s example and share some vision with your church community for where you (and the other leaders) are feeling God is leading.