“And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away” (Nehemiah 12:43).

The story of how God used Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and restore the people to obedience is instructive for us in many ways. Throughout the process of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah proved himself to be a man of courage, determination, passion and faith. He was the right man, at the right time, for the right job. Under his leadership, the people of Israel regained their sense of God’s purposes for them as they followed Nehemiah’s leadership and rebuilt the walls.

Once the wall was completed and their enemies thwarted, Nehemiah dedicated the walls to the Lord. This was no small accomplishment and was possible only as God enabled them and as Nehemiah led them. The result of their accomplishment is recorded in the verse cited above. Their joy was so outrageous that the sound of joy was “heard far away.” 

Now on the surface, it appears that their joy was based solely on the completion of the walls. But I wonder if there was more to it than that. Yes of course they were joyful that their task was completed, but the completion of the task proves something equally important. You see, God blesses his people when they follow his designated leaders. That is to say that God leads through his leaders; thus when God’s people follow God’s leaders, the result is joy. In that light, I believe part of their joy was due to the fact that they faithfully followed Nehemiah’s leadership. 

With that observation in mind, the question arises, “How does that apply for us in our day?” Well, one of the things I’ve come to see, particularly in the context of the church, is that God blesses his people proportionally to the degree to which they submit to the leaders God places in their midst. I speak to far too many people who have had difficult church experiences somewhere in their past. And although I am not in a position to judge, in many instances the fault lies with the leader and/or the people. Churches seldom struggle due to outside influences. Rather, churches struggle because they do not have the right leader, or else the people are unwilling to follow. 

What’s apparent in Nehemiah’s story is that God blessed the people because he was God’s chosen leader and the people followed faithfully. In that light, I must tell you that you as a congregation have been faithfully submissive to the leaders God has placed in our midst. It is no small blessing to be part of a local church characterized by God’s leaders leading God’s people. I believe that what we are experiencing in our midst is quite similar to the people in Nehemiah’s day, with one minor difference. “And the joy of [Wausau Alliance Church] was heard far away.”

“Listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you and do them. Take care and keep your soul diligently. Watch yourselves very carefully lest you act corruptly” (Deuteronomy 4: 1, 9, 15).

Without doubt, Moses is one of the greatest leaders in human history. The story of his life, from his birth until the Lord himself buried him in Moab, is filled with examples of Moses’ faith, obedience, courage and leadership over God’s people. As I’ve read and re-read Moses’ story, one of the things that always impressed me is his desire that the Hebrew people remain faithful to the Lord’s commands. After all, it was Moses to whom the Ten Commandments and all of God’s law were delivered. As a result, his passion was that God’s people remain faithful to God’s law. 

There are many examples of Moses reminding the people of the need to remain obedient and faithful. In the passage of scripture cited above, Moses once again encouraged the people to obey. His words contain several things that I believe are equally instructive for us in our day as well. 

Note the very first word in the text; “listen.” In the original language, the word means to hear and to perceive. In that sense, the listening Moses had in mind involved more than the operation of the ear as a means of getting sound to the brain. It involved understanding and perceiving what was being said. Lots of people hear; fewer perceive. But he went further. Not only did he desire that the people perceive, as proof of their full understanding, he commanded them to obey what they perceived. 

Pay attention to the words he used in commanding them to obey. He used the following words and phrases:  do; take care; keep your soul diligently; and watch yourself. Those are strong and directive, are they not? I believe Moses was intent on communicating to the people that the proof that they truly listened was the degree to which they were intentional, active and consistent in obeying what they perceived to be God’s law.

I have a quote in my personal journal that says, “True learning does not occur until there has been a change in my behavior.” As Christians, listening to God’s truth is not enough. It is important to be sure, but it is not enough. The truest measure of listening is the degree to which we focus on paying attention to what God says so that we might do what he instructs us to do.

Are you a listener, a perceiver or a doer? My prayer is that I may be a doer as opposed to a listener. Join me in “keeping your soul diligently” as an obedient follower of Jesus Christ.

“The Lord God has given me a tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught” (Isaiah 50:4).

What gets you out of bed each morning?  Is it your alarm, your kids, your internal clock or something else? Well, for the prophet Isaiah it appears that he was awakened each day by the Lord. But there is more. Not only did God awaken him from sleep, it was for a specific purpose; “to hear as those who are taught.”

Now I know that some of us are morning people and some are not. I happen to be a morning person, so getting up in the morning is not a difficult thing for me. I feel most alert, energetic and motivated during the morning hours. I get my best work done early. I suppose that’s a good thing (at least for other morning people.) But I want you to see what took place in Isaiah’s life, how his morning routine operated.

It appears that Isaiah understood that the purpose for which the Lord woke him early was so that he might be taught by the Lord in order to “sustain with a word him who is weary.” In other words, the Lord got Isaiah out of bed so that he might learn something to use in sustaining others. That’s quite instructive, don’t you think?

That observation leads me to a simple question. How do you spend your early hours? How do you invest your time at the start of your day? Is it in a semi-alert state as you seek to fully waken? Or have you sought to be as alert as possible so that you might listen to the voice of God, thereby enriching your heart, thus giving you a word to “sustain the weary”? 

One of the things I am more and more convicted about is how I use my time, and particularly how much time I waste. I’m certain each of us can relate to how frustrated we become due to our unwise use of time. Now I am not suggesting that we monitor every second of the day seeking to determine if we are using it wisely (although some measure of that might be helpful). But in line with what we have read about Isaiah, I am suggesting that perhaps selected segments of our day should be targeted, focused and devoted to things that better equip us to speak into the lives of others. 

For Isaiah, that targeted time was early in the morning. His posture was that of a learner; his teacher was the Lord. God cared so much about Isaiah that he woke him daily to teach him. Perhaps we might get ourselves out of bed at an early hour so that we might be similarly taught. From personal experience, I can tell you it works. Try it!

“And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great” (Job 2:13).

No doubt one of the hardest lessons for us to learn is when to speak and when not to speak. Each of us has learned from situations when we said something we should not have said, or when we have not said something we should have. For me, it’s always a challenge to know the right words to say when someone is struggling with the hard things of life. That’s when what we read about Job’s friends is instructive to us. Let me explain.

By the time we are at the end of the second chapter of Job, he has learned of the death of his sons and daughters. He has also lost most of his livestock and the majority of his servants. And if that’s not enough, he’s been struck with “loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”  I’d say Job is in a world of hurt as a result of his circumstances. Oh, and if that’s not enough, in Job 2:9 we read, “Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die’ ” (not the best thing to say to someone in utter anguish, would you agree?).

Now what lessons might we learn from what was said and what was not said to Job? Well, as I’ve considered the entirety of Job’s story and the many things that were said to him, I’ve come to several conclusions.

First, calamity comes apart from anything done by the one experiencing it. Job was an upright man. He walked closely with the Lord, yet he knew great anguish, loss and suffering. Later in the book, his friends suggested that what he was experiencing was his fault, due to his sin or pride or something. That’s clearly not the right thing to say. Later, in response to their semi-accusations, Job told them to “mock on.” In essence, he’s telling them that suggesting that what he’s experiencing is his fault is the same as mocking his pain. How unfair!

Second, in the midst of such pain, the only things worth saying are things that come from the heart of God. Nothing provides the comfort needed by those in pain more than words of scripture.

Then finally, there is nothing wrong with silence. There are situations when no words are suitable or needed. Initially, Job’s friends sat with him in silence for an entire week. Have you ever just sat alongside someone who was in extreme pain and suffering? In such instances the presence of another person in far more comforting than the words that might be spoken. 

Friends, you and I will likely have an opportunity to be used by God in the life of someone in pain in the year ahead. There are things not to say, just as there are things to say. But perhaps best of all may be to sit in silence as we bring solace to those who are suffering.