When enemies heard that Nehemiah and the Jews were rebuilding the wall they were livid.
That is what happens when you try to rebuild something. The enemy who tore it down in the first place, or the enemy who wants to invade won't like it.
It is no different if you are rebuilding a relationship or a family than it was rebuilding a wall. You have an enemy who enjoys the destruction. He wants to continue to have easy access in to your life to wreak more destruction. If you are rebuilding I think you can safely assume that someone won't like it.
It is important to know who your real enemy is. You may experience opposition from flesh and blood people, but they are not your real enemies. They have been taken captive by your true enemy. They may be tools in the hand of your enemy, but no human is your true enemy. Your true battle is against "the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. " (Ephesians 6:12, ESV)
More next time...
Showing posts with label Nehemiah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nehemiah. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Tales of the Restoration: Stepmother Superhero
I have a new superhero.
There are plenty of examples of wicked stepmothers. Stepmother heroes are much more difficult to find, but I think I just stumbled across one.
Better yet, my new stepmom hero lived during the time of the restoration, the time I have been learning about, and using as a model.
When Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king, Artaxerxes was the king. His father was Xerxes, the King Xerxes who made Esther queen. That makes Esther Artaxerxes' father's wife -- his stepmother!
Listen the this quote from Halley's Bible Handbook, p235.
"Esther most probably was still alive, and an influential personage in the palace, when both Ezra and Nehemiah went to Jerusalem. Our guess is that we have Esther to thank for Artaxerxes' kindly feeling toward the Jews and his interest in having Jerusalem rebuilt."
Picture this, the mild mannered queen stepmother glides quietly along the passages of the women's palace. Few know that sweeping red cape she wears is not merely the royal garb of a queen, it marks her as SUPER STEPMOM! In her role as Super-Queen-Stepmother she changes the course of history, again.
We don't have proof that Esther was the behind the scenes force that moved the powerful hand of the king, but she very well might have been. Nehemiah chapter 2 makes a point of mentioning that the queen was sitting beside the king when Nehemiah asked for leave to go the Judah. Could it be that the older queen Esther was tutoring her young successor in the art of moving the hand of a king? If so, the young queen learned her lesson well. Maybe she took a lesson from Esther, when she diverted the king's attention away from the weighty political issues associated with helping a troublesome ancient enemy rebuild the wall around their city. It was simple. All she had to do was whisper in the king's ear, "ask Nehemiah how long he will be gone". Maybe.
Maybe Esther didn't say a word. Maybe her Jewish identity combined with her winsome personality were enough to give the King a positive feeling toward the Jews and want to help them, reversing the edicts of earlier Persian monarchs. Probably Esther never even realized the full extent of the impact she had. Wouldn't it be great to sit down for tea with queen Esther in Heaven and ask her to tell the whole story, now that she knows it, complete with the details women crave?
No matter how she did it, I love the idea that Esther's influence extended well beyond the events in the book of Esther, into her stepson's life, and cleared the way for the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem.
It is too soon to know what influence we will have. We may never know how our modeling impacts the generations that follow us and influences the choices they make. Our job is to be the simple people God calls us to be in the life he gives us to live.
There are plenty of examples of wicked stepmothers. Stepmother heroes are much more difficult to find, but I think I just stumbled across one.
Better yet, my new stepmom hero lived during the time of the restoration, the time I have been learning about, and using as a model.
When Nehemiah was cupbearer to the king, Artaxerxes was the king. His father was Xerxes, the King Xerxes who made Esther queen. That makes Esther Artaxerxes' father's wife -- his stepmother!
Listen the this quote from Halley's Bible Handbook, p235.
"Esther most probably was still alive, and an influential personage in the palace, when both Ezra and Nehemiah went to Jerusalem. Our guess is that we have Esther to thank for Artaxerxes' kindly feeling toward the Jews and his interest in having Jerusalem rebuilt."
Picture this, the mild mannered queen stepmother glides quietly along the passages of the women's palace. Few know that sweeping red cape she wears is not merely the royal garb of a queen, it marks her as SUPER STEPMOM! In her role as Super-Queen-Stepmother she changes the course of history, again.
We don't have proof that Esther was the behind the scenes force that moved the powerful hand of the king, but she very well might have been. Nehemiah chapter 2 makes a point of mentioning that the queen was sitting beside the king when Nehemiah asked for leave to go the Judah. Could it be that the older queen Esther was tutoring her young successor in the art of moving the hand of a king? If so, the young queen learned her lesson well. Maybe she took a lesson from Esther, when she diverted the king's attention away from the weighty political issues associated with helping a troublesome ancient enemy rebuild the wall around their city. It was simple. All she had to do was whisper in the king's ear, "ask Nehemiah how long he will be gone". Maybe.
Maybe Esther didn't say a word. Maybe her Jewish identity combined with her winsome personality were enough to give the King a positive feeling toward the Jews and want to help them, reversing the edicts of earlier Persian monarchs. Probably Esther never even realized the full extent of the impact she had. Wouldn't it be great to sit down for tea with queen Esther in Heaven and ask her to tell the whole story, now that she knows it, complete with the details women crave?
No matter how she did it, I love the idea that Esther's influence extended well beyond the events in the book of Esther, into her stepson's life, and cleared the way for the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem.
It is too soon to know what influence we will have. We may never know how our modeling impacts the generations that follow us and influences the choices they make. Our job is to be the simple people God calls us to be in the life he gives us to live.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tales of the Restoration Part IX: Opportunity Knocks in Disguise
I have noticed something about praying for restoration. The breakthrough happens in the strangest ways, at the most unexpected times. God is a master storyteller. His stories are always full of surprise twists. He almost never writes the story the way I would.
I have been studying the restoration that is recounted in the biblical story of Nehemiah and finding startling parallels to the restoration project going on in me and in my family.
Nehemiah had been praying for God's intervention for months. In private, he prayed and wept. In public he hid his anguish, put on a happy face, and did his job. It was a government job; serving the most powerful man in the world, the king of Persia.
I have had seasons in my life when I have trudged through my days with a happy face masking my broken heart. It happened when my parents divorced. It happened again when my first husband told me that he didn't want to be married anymore, and again when I found out why he didn't want to be married anymore. There were times like that as I slogged through years defined by being a divorced single mom. More recently there have been days like that as I have bruised my shins running up against the realities of building a blended family from the pieces of two broken homes.
The only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning on such days is duty. I get up. I do my job. I try to hide the fact that my heart is in excruciating pain. I go home. I hide in the bathroom while I cry and pray. Eventually the day ends. Finally, gratefully, I sleep for a few hours. I get up, get slammed by the sorrow, and do it all again. Sometimes I do this for months.
Nehemiah was a good faker, but not quite as good as he thought he needed to be. He had hidden his distress for four months. Unfortunately, one day, his boss, a very powerful man, in fact the most powerful man in the world at that time, noticed that he did not look good. The king perceived that the problem was emotional and not physical. Nehemiah's immediate reaction was fear. He hadn't meant for things to go this way. He hadn't meant for his distress to interfere with his work. Kings, and this one was no exception, weren't generally known for their patience and understanding with depressed servants. Nehemiah swallowed hard, and shaking in his boots, he told the truth. This was a very dicey thing since the king ruled the empire, that conquered the empire, that was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem in the first place.
The best things sometimes happen that way. They enter your life disguised as disasters. The very thing you have been trying with all of your might to avoid, happens, and you just have to go with it.
A few months ago I was struggling with the role of stepmother. I have spent my entire adult life working with kids. I love kids, and almost without exception kids love me. I say, almost without exception.
The notable exception happened after I disrupted already messy little lives by marrying these particular kids' father. A few months ago my stepkids had been sending me not-so-subtle messages that they didn't really want me in their lives, and I was hurting. One morning, the hurt spilled out. It overflowed in a rush. I couldn't stop it in time. My anger and hurt erupted with force all over the place. No expert giving advice about building bonds between stepmom and stepkids ever recommends this approach. I thought I had ruined any chance I was ever going to have of being accepted by these guys.
Nehemiah spilled his guts to the king. Surprisingly the king did not do as Nehemiah expected and summon the executioner. Instead the king asked how he could help, and the opportunity Nehemiah had been praying for appeared out of the blue.
My explosion prompted a discussion with the kids. We talked for hours. It was the turning point I had been praying for.
Sometimes when opportunity knocks, he does it in disguise.
I have been studying the restoration that is recounted in the biblical story of Nehemiah and finding startling parallels to the restoration project going on in me and in my family.
Nehemiah had been praying for God's intervention for months. In private, he prayed and wept. In public he hid his anguish, put on a happy face, and did his job. It was a government job; serving the most powerful man in the world, the king of Persia.
I have had seasons in my life when I have trudged through my days with a happy face masking my broken heart. It happened when my parents divorced. It happened again when my first husband told me that he didn't want to be married anymore, and again when I found out why he didn't want to be married anymore. There were times like that as I slogged through years defined by being a divorced single mom. More recently there have been days like that as I have bruised my shins running up against the realities of building a blended family from the pieces of two broken homes.
The only thing that gets me out of bed in the morning on such days is duty. I get up. I do my job. I try to hide the fact that my heart is in excruciating pain. I go home. I hide in the bathroom while I cry and pray. Eventually the day ends. Finally, gratefully, I sleep for a few hours. I get up, get slammed by the sorrow, and do it all again. Sometimes I do this for months.
Nehemiah was a good faker, but not quite as good as he thought he needed to be. He had hidden his distress for four months. Unfortunately, one day, his boss, a very powerful man, in fact the most powerful man in the world at that time, noticed that he did not look good. The king perceived that the problem was emotional and not physical. Nehemiah's immediate reaction was fear. He hadn't meant for things to go this way. He hadn't meant for his distress to interfere with his work. Kings, and this one was no exception, weren't generally known for their patience and understanding with depressed servants. Nehemiah swallowed hard, and shaking in his boots, he told the truth. This was a very dicey thing since the king ruled the empire, that conquered the empire, that was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem in the first place.
The best things sometimes happen that way. They enter your life disguised as disasters. The very thing you have been trying with all of your might to avoid, happens, and you just have to go with it.
A few months ago I was struggling with the role of stepmother. I have spent my entire adult life working with kids. I love kids, and almost without exception kids love me. I say, almost without exception.
The notable exception happened after I disrupted already messy little lives by marrying these particular kids' father. A few months ago my stepkids had been sending me not-so-subtle messages that they didn't really want me in their lives, and I was hurting. One morning, the hurt spilled out. It overflowed in a rush. I couldn't stop it in time. My anger and hurt erupted with force all over the place. No expert giving advice about building bonds between stepmom and stepkids ever recommends this approach. I thought I had ruined any chance I was ever going to have of being accepted by these guys.
Nehemiah spilled his guts to the king. Surprisingly the king did not do as Nehemiah expected and summon the executioner. Instead the king asked how he could help, and the opportunity Nehemiah had been praying for appeared out of the blue.
My explosion prompted a discussion with the kids. We talked for hours. It was the turning point I had been praying for.
Sometimes when opportunity knocks, he does it in disguise.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tales of the Restoration: The Gift of Tears (part II) or Go Ahead, Cry If You Want To!
The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears. ~John Vance Cheney
For the past year, I have been learning a lot about a time of restoration from the Biblical story of Nehemiah. Today I am thinking about the role of crying, and mourning in the process of restoration.
The first thing Nehemiah did when he heard about the shameful state of his homeland was burst into tears. I don't mean he got a little misty for a moment. He "wept and mourned for days". Nehemiah was an important government official and male, but he apparently felt no shame over the depth of his emotion.
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4
I decided to do a little research into tears. It turns out that the standard advice, "don't cry", may be very bad advice.
Animals don't shed tears. So why did God create tears in humans?
Dr. William Frey, a "tear expert", found that emotional tears contain a mood-elevating and pain reducing endorphin, a stress hormone, protein carrying the molecular code for emotions throughout the body, and a mineral involved with our moods. In contrast, irritant tears, (like those produced when dicing onions) were 98 percent water. Apparently, when we "cry it out", we are physically shedding the stress and emotion. Maybe that is one reason the crying makes us feel better. (information from http://smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=53397&eddate=01/12/2006)
Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. ~Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, 1860
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tales of the Restoration Part II: Eavesdropping in the Throneroom
When things are really bad, sometimes it helps to follow another person's lead.
Nehemiah was blindsided by a crisis. The situation seemed hopeless. Nehemiah was far away and isolated*. When the crisis hit, Nehemiah reacted with intense grief. Then he turned to fasting and prayer. Nehemiah's prayer is written out for us in Nehemiah 1: 5-11. It is a great model to use in times of crisis.
If I had been in Nehemiah's place, I would probably have gone straight to telling God what to do. I would tell him how to fix my problem, and demand that he take care of things immediately. Nehemiah didn't do that. His prayer doesn't even mention the problem for quite a while. I picture the harried cupbearer taking a very deep breath, and slowing himself down.
The first thing Nehemiah says is, "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments..." Wait a minute. God already knew all that. Why did Nehemiah have to use the long title?
It reminds me of the old stories where commoners must bow their foreheads to the ground and recite a very long list of the king's flowery titles before being allowed to ask the king for justice. But why? The king's title isn't repeated because the king can't remember his own job description. The title is used because it is good and right that the commoner respectfully acknowledge who he is addressing before he dashes right in. Maybe that is exactly what is happening here. I don't think God needed to be reminded that he was a great and awesome God. I think Nehemiah needed to remember that God was bigger than his present crisis, even though it was a big crisis.
After addressing God as a great and awesome God, Nehemiah identifies God as the one who keeps his promises, especially one promise. God promised to love his people steadfastly, loyally, stubbornly. I think Nehemiah needed to remember that God was not indifferent in the face of the crisis. God could be trusted to act in love.
Finally, Nehemiah asked God to listen. God wasn't distracted. He wasn't waiting for someone to catch his attention. These words were also for Nehemiah's benefit. He needed to know that God was listening.
It is a good starting point isn't it? When we are confronted with a crisis, we'd best run straight to the throne room. After all, the king is our dad. We can run crying to him, but it is a good thing to take a deep breath and remember 3 things.
Number 1: God is big. He is really, really big. He is more than powerful enough to handle your present crisis. No matter what it is, even if it is a devastating, suck-all-the-air-out-of-your-lungs, this-is-the-end kind of crisis, God is bigger than it is.
Number 2: God's steadfast love has never left you. No matter how bad it is, God will always love you, even if no one else does.
Number 3: The God who holds together heaven and earth is paying close attention to you. He knows your words. He even knows your heart and your heartache. He is watching over you; you have His attention. Spill it all out to him. God is listening. Really!
*For more background see the blog post from September 16, Tales of the Restoration Part 1.
Nehemiah was blindsided by a crisis. The situation seemed hopeless. Nehemiah was far away and isolated*. When the crisis hit, Nehemiah reacted with intense grief. Then he turned to fasting and prayer. Nehemiah's prayer is written out for us in Nehemiah 1: 5-11. It is a great model to use in times of crisis.
If I had been in Nehemiah's place, I would probably have gone straight to telling God what to do. I would tell him how to fix my problem, and demand that he take care of things immediately. Nehemiah didn't do that. His prayer doesn't even mention the problem for quite a while. I picture the harried cupbearer taking a very deep breath, and slowing himself down.
The first thing Nehemiah says is, "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments..." Wait a minute. God already knew all that. Why did Nehemiah have to use the long title?
It reminds me of the old stories where commoners must bow their foreheads to the ground and recite a very long list of the king's flowery titles before being allowed to ask the king for justice. But why? The king's title isn't repeated because the king can't remember his own job description. The title is used because it is good and right that the commoner respectfully acknowledge who he is addressing before he dashes right in. Maybe that is exactly what is happening here. I don't think God needed to be reminded that he was a great and awesome God. I think Nehemiah needed to remember that God was bigger than his present crisis, even though it was a big crisis.
After addressing God as a great and awesome God, Nehemiah identifies God as the one who keeps his promises, especially one promise. God promised to love his people steadfastly, loyally, stubbornly. I think Nehemiah needed to remember that God was not indifferent in the face of the crisis. God could be trusted to act in love.
Finally, Nehemiah asked God to listen. God wasn't distracted. He wasn't waiting for someone to catch his attention. These words were also for Nehemiah's benefit. He needed to know that God was listening.
It is a good starting point isn't it? When we are confronted with a crisis, we'd best run straight to the throne room. After all, the king is our dad. We can run crying to him, but it is a good thing to take a deep breath and remember 3 things.
Number 1: God is big. He is really, really big. He is more than powerful enough to handle your present crisis. No matter what it is, even if it is a devastating, suck-all-the-air-out-of-your-lungs, this-is-the-end kind of crisis, God is bigger than it is.
Number 2: God's steadfast love has never left you. No matter how bad it is, God will always love you, even if no one else does.
Number 3: The God who holds together heaven and earth is paying close attention to you. He knows your words. He even knows your heart and your heartache. He is watching over you; you have His attention. Spill it all out to him. God is listening. Really!
*For more background see the blog post from September 16, Tales of the Restoration Part 1.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tales of the Restoration Part 1: Broken Walls and Burned Gates
God speaks to me in many ways. Frequently he directs my way with stories. For almost a year now God has been teaching me about my own life through the fascinating story of Nehemiah.
The events in Nehemiah fall into a season of Jewish history that my study bible labels, "The People of God in Restoration". Isn't it a hopeful title for an epoch in history, or for a season in life? For some time now, my family has been in a season that could bear the same title.
Restoration implies that there has been some sort of destruction. It may be sudden and traumatic, like the unexpected death of a loved one or a grievous breach of trust. Sometimes destruction happens through gradual erosion, as in the destruction wreaked by alcoholism. Years ago evil breached the walls of my life. By breaking my first marriage, it destroyed my home, scattered and wounded its inhabitants, tore down its walls, and set fire to its gates. The stories of brokenness I hear in other people's lives can be eerily similar. The youngest and the weakest members of the family are often the most wounded.
Imagine the book of Nehemiah being like a dramatic play. The central character is a man named Nehemiah, a middle aged Jewish man who holds a prestigious position in Babylon. His job comes with a lot of fringe benefits. Nehemiah protects the king from poisoning. In return, he wears luxurious clothes, consumes the best food and wine, and lives in the palace.
The curtain opens. Nehemiah and his Jewish brother, who recently arrived from Judah, are sitting in an isolated corner of the palace, catching up. Nehemiah expects a glowing report from Hanani. 70 years after the destruction of Babylon people were finally allowed to return to their homeland to begin rebuilding a society.
Nehemiah innocently asks his companion how things are back home. The answer is like a punch in the gut. The reconstruction that began with such promise is in danger of collapsing back into the rubble from which it came.
"The survivors there...are in great trouble and shame; the wall ...is broken down and its gates have been destroyed by fire." Nehemiah 1:3
Nehemiah reels as if he has been punched. He sits down heavily and begins to weep. Time passes. Scene 2 opens on Nehemiah days later, eyes red and swollen, clothes hanging loosely on his thin frame. He has been mourning, weeping, refusing food, and praying all this time.
I wonder if did Nehemiah regretted asking that polite, "how are things back home?" question. If he did regret it, he didn't think it was worth mentioning. He moved in the space of a comma straight to a higher throne room, fasting and praying before the king of heaven.
All restoration begins in that throne room. He is the only one with the resources necessary for any restoration project.
The events in Nehemiah fall into a season of Jewish history that my study bible labels, "The People of God in Restoration". Isn't it a hopeful title for an epoch in history, or for a season in life? For some time now, my family has been in a season that could bear the same title.
Restoration implies that there has been some sort of destruction. It may be sudden and traumatic, like the unexpected death of a loved one or a grievous breach of trust. Sometimes destruction happens through gradual erosion, as in the destruction wreaked by alcoholism. Years ago evil breached the walls of my life. By breaking my first marriage, it destroyed my home, scattered and wounded its inhabitants, tore down its walls, and set fire to its gates. The stories of brokenness I hear in other people's lives can be eerily similar. The youngest and the weakest members of the family are often the most wounded.
Imagine the book of Nehemiah being like a dramatic play. The central character is a man named Nehemiah, a middle aged Jewish man who holds a prestigious position in Babylon. His job comes with a lot of fringe benefits. Nehemiah protects the king from poisoning. In return, he wears luxurious clothes, consumes the best food and wine, and lives in the palace.
The curtain opens. Nehemiah and his Jewish brother, who recently arrived from Judah, are sitting in an isolated corner of the palace, catching up. Nehemiah expects a glowing report from Hanani. 70 years after the destruction of Babylon people were finally allowed to return to their homeland to begin rebuilding a society.
Nehemiah innocently asks his companion how things are back home. The answer is like a punch in the gut. The reconstruction that began with such promise is in danger of collapsing back into the rubble from which it came.
"The survivors there...are in great trouble and shame; the wall ...is broken down and its gates have been destroyed by fire." Nehemiah 1:3
Nehemiah reels as if he has been punched. He sits down heavily and begins to weep. Time passes. Scene 2 opens on Nehemiah days later, eyes red and swollen, clothes hanging loosely on his thin frame. He has been mourning, weeping, refusing food, and praying all this time.
I wonder if did Nehemiah regretted asking that polite, "how are things back home?" question. If he did regret it, he didn't think it was worth mentioning. He moved in the space of a comma straight to a higher throne room, fasting and praying before the king of heaven.
All restoration begins in that throne room. He is the only one with the resources necessary for any restoration project.
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