In the 30th chapter of Jeremiah, the prophet, as he watches his once proud and great nation be led into captivity and the once great inpenetrable walls of his great city, Jerusalem, torn down and destroyed, begans to speak the words of the Lord to His people. He tells them that because of their failure, their sin, they will experience pain and punishment, but it will only last so long. The day would come when he would bring back out of captivity this great nation and he would restore health to them and he would heal all their wounds, and because she had been an outcast, God would bring her back. Then in verse 18, he says ". . .The city shall be built upon its own mound. . ."
Years later, Nehemiah is a cup bearer in the palace of a Persian king. The king notices that Nehemiah is not his normal happy self. Rather, he seems disturbed, discouraged, downcast, beaten up. The king calls him in and asks, why Nehemiah is so low in spirit. Nehemiah explains to the king that the capital city of his homeland lies in ruins and has no walls to protect it. With the blessing of the king, Nehemiah returns and begins an amazing restoration project, that Jeremiah had prophesied would come to pass years before. Nehemiah goes and he rebuilds the walls of the city in an amazing feat, but what fascinates me is the fact that he used the broken down burned out pieces of the previous wall to rebuild the wall that stands to this day.
Isn't it just like God to take the discarded pieces of a broken life and allow it to become a blessing that touches future generations? When he chooses to restore, he doesn't do it halfway. Rather He takes the pieces of our greatest failures and disappointments and builds again on what was destroyed. Have you ever considered that Peter, God's man with the kingdom keys, when he fell into sin and returned to his fisherman's lifestyle, was found by Jesus? And when He found him, he doesn't punish Peter but rather reassures his love for Peter and puts him back on the job. From Jesus-denier to Pentecost preacher within 50 days. But what I love most, is the fact that God allows Peter a second chance to proclaim his knowledge of Christ. Where he once denied he even knew the man, 50 days later, he proclaims him both Lord and Christ and when others felt the same conviction that he felt 50 days earlier, he knew exactly what they needed to do to find exactly what he had found - the restoring hand of Jesus Christ.
Paul in his second letter to the church at Corinth, says "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." I've often wondered why it seems that I bump into people all the time who have struggled or are fighting battles that I've already fought. I believe that Jesus rebuilds with the broken pieces of our life so that when he, having put us back together, brings broken people to us, we are then able to follow His lead and offer the same restoration and comfort and healing that he once gave to us.
Nehemiah never forgot what it was like to rebuild walls out of broken pieces that lasted. Peter never forgot what it was like to be restored as a fisher of men. And I don't ever want to forget what it feels like to experience the forgiveness of God and find His hand of restoration taking the broken pieces of yesterday's failures and building a future that will, in faith, touch the lives of others to come.
May God bless you all! I hope to not be so long between postings. It's time for me to get started doing what God's gifted me to do more often and I hope that it will be a blessing to each of your lives.
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