Rebuilding

No interventions of the supernatural "miracles" are recorded in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. However, prayer, faith, courage, and hard work are on every page. In truth, God was mightily at work through these times, restoring the house of worship and the Holy City.

Nehemiah wants to show reverence for God. This is how he describes his motivation for courageous and faithful living. He knows that his behavior is an outcome of and a declaration of his faith.

God could have snapped his fingers and restored Jerusalem to its full grandeur. Instead, he moved the hearts of his people and strengthened their hands for the difficult work of rebuilding. And through the process, inch by inch, he forged stronger bonds among them and drew the people to himself.

Ezra and Nehemiah restored the worship of God. They opened the word of God and brought it to the center of worship. They read for the people all that God had done for previous generations. They reminded the people of all that God promised them and of their obligations in the covenant of love.

And they turned a nation back to God.

We all enjoy instant answers. We like immediate rewards. We chafe under the restraints of development, cultivation, delay, and incremental process.

Residents of the City of New Orleans could decide to move to bright and well-manicured suburban areas with new schools and no crime. We do not have to live in a community struggling to lift itself from the muck.

We continue the work of rebuilding our community because we believe that this community is important to our security and economy as a nation. We believe that its rich culture and heritage are important aspects of America’s soul. And we believe that God has planted us here to help shape her future through faith and good works.

We pray for revival and for the harvest of souls that will surely follow the pervasive sowing of love and good deeds here. But no instant cure for the ills of New Orleans is likely to emerge. Instead, God has called us to a long journey of courage, faith, and determination.

The journey itself must become delightful and rewarding for each of us. We must learn to celebrate the small steps taken on a daily basis. We must mark with praise and thanksgiving the turning points as they occur and as we notice them.
And we must, like Ezra and Nehemiah, find our strength and focus in the worship of God, the power of prayer, the reward of good deeds, and the healing effect of God’s word.