January 20
Verse of the Day for January 20
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.Nehemiah 2:18 KJV
The Key of Beginnings · Day 20 of 31
Reflection · 3 min read
Let Us Rise Up And Build
Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem and does nothing for three days. Then he goes out at night, alone, on one animal, and inspects the broken wall without telling anybody what he is doing.
Only after he has seen the whole ruin himself does he speak to the people.
Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
The order is worth keeping. Silence, then a night ride round the actual damage, then a plain account of it, then the call — and the response comes immediately because the people can tell he has seen it.
Vision that has not looked at the rubble does not move anyone. Nehemiah knew the size of the job before he asked anyone to join him in it.
He rode round the ruin first.Then he said, let us build.
Before you rebuild anything — a marriage, a habit, a faith — go and look at the actual state of it in the dark, on your own, without softening it.
Then rise up and build. In that order.
Carry this today
What are you rebuilding without having looked at the damage?
Pray
Read Nehemiah 2:11–18
11So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 12And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon. 13And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire. 14Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass. 15Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned. 16And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. 17Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach. 18Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.
Keep praying
Reflection by Collins Asein, from the daily devotionals in the PrayerKey app. Bible text: King James Version.