Reporting for Duty: Learning to Lead like Nehemiah

11/12/22 – 11/23/22

Rebuilding Our Broken Walls

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  11/12/22

A city’s walls keep her enemies from advancing. They protect the people inside from harm. They offer protection and a clear border that all can see. But when those walls are breached—when stone is torn from stone so that mere rubble remains—the city and its people are left vulnerable to every wind that blows and every vandal that prowls.

The book of Nehemiah tells the true story of a Jewish slave, cupbearer to the king of Persia, and his mission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. But this historical account is about much more than construction. In Nehemiah, we find plans that will help us rebuild the broken-down walls in our own world.

Today, walls that once provided protection against the enemy’s schemes are crumbling all around us—in our families, our churches, and our culture. Today, more than ever, God is calling His people to be men and women who, like Nehemiah, will trust Him with their lives and work to repair the damage before it is too late.

Being neither a construction worker, nor a contractor, nor a stonemason, Nehemiah was not an expert in wall repair. But God used him because he was a willing servant. As we look through the book of Nehemiah in the coming days, ask God to kindle within you a greater desire to serve—to be ready and willing to rebuild any walls in your life.

Prayer: Lord, show me the broken walls You want me to rebuild. Use me to rebuild the broken foundations in my life and in the lives of others. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“As you come to him, the living Stone . . . you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 2:4-5).