Let Us Rise and Build

Transcript

Hello, my friend… good to have you here today. This is By God's Call — day 139, Let Us Rise and Build.

"And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for the good work." Nehemiah 2:18.

Before this verse, Nehemiah had done something curious: he arrived in Jerusalem and, for several days, told no one about the plan God had placed in his heart. He went out at night, alone, and inspected the fallen walls with his own eyes. He walked among the ruins in silence, announcing nothing. Only after seeing the real scope of the damage did he gather the people and speak.

And notice what he did first, before giving any order, before assigning any task: he told a story. "I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also of the words that the king had spoken to me." Nehemiah didn't arrive handing out technical construction instructions. He arrived giving testimony. Telling what God had done. And notice the order: he names the good hand of God on him first, and only then mentions the king's permission. Divine providence comes first in the account — royal authorization, as necessary as it was, comes after, as confirmation, not as the source.

That makes me think about how we lead, persuade, or simply talk to the people around us. So often we want to start with the plan, the strategy, the task list. But Nehemiah teaches us that testimony comes before the plan. Before asking someone to rise up with you, tell them what God has already done. Faith spreads through honestly told stories, not through orders given with authority.

And look at what happened when he told it: "They said, 'Let us rise up and build.'" This wasn't a slow persuasion built argument by argument. It was a response that came out of many mouths as if it were one single voice. A well-told account of faith has that power — to unite people who had been scattered, discouraged, each tending to their own life, around a shared purpose.

And then comes the last phrase, which I find beautiful: "they strengthened their hands for the good work." Hands that had hung tired before, without hope that those ruined walls would ever stand again, now grew strong. Because hope always comes before the hammer. No one truly builds without first believing it's worth building.

And don't forget: the ruins Nehemiah faced weren't imaginary. He had seen up close, at night, alone, the real extent of the damage. His faith wasn't ignorance of how big the problem was — it was confidence in spite of how big the problem was. And it was exactly that combination, seeing the ruin up close and still trusting God, that gave his voice the weight to move an entire people to rise up.

My friend, you also carry a story of how God's good hand has been on you — maybe recent, maybe old, but real. And maybe there are people around you right now with tired hands, without the strength to rebuild what's fallen in their own lives. Your story could be exactly what strengthens their hands.

So, before breakfast, tell someone, out loud, one concrete way God has been good to you recently. Don't keep it to yourself. Let that story do what it did in Jerusalem: unite people, strengthen hands, and make someone say, "let us rise up."

Stay close to God. Tell your story — and keep standing firm. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.