Ordinary World Changers

I know many of you are resisting the idea that God should be in your life every minute, and that is understandable. I resisted for years, not understanding the hardships I would encounter. Today, God is always in my life, and while I cannot guarantee that you will NEVER face hardships in the future, God will give us an insight into our life troubles, and open our minds to other options, or relieve our stress during these times.

This series centers around a simple, God-focused individual named Nehemiah, a man of high status in the court of Artaxerxes, the first, of the Persian Empire. Nehemiah was the king’s cupbearer. Do not be fooled into thinking that being a cupbearer in this court is a lowly position. These individuals were revered for their manners and presentation. In fact, a useless historical fact to keep for parties, watch how you present a celebratory glass of beverage to someone you respect, honor or love. Do you use your index and thumb to hold the glass while serving, like in the movies? If so, you are carrying on a tradition from the court of the Persian Empire, for this is how the cupbearer served their masters. It was a sign of reverence, honor and status. So, now you know a bit about Nehemiah’s position. The issue is, there is a problem back in Jerusalem. After the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, the Jews of Israel and Canaan were exiled to the capital of the Babylonian Empire. This exile lasted for 70 years. Nearly four generations lived in Babylon, some adopted the customs and ate the food of their conquers. This will have ramifications later. After 70 years, the Persians conquered the Babylonians, and King Cyrus proclaimed that all people shall return to their domestic lands, i.e. their land of origin. Now, we are 115 years after the exile is over, but Jerusalem is still in a rather poor state. The temple is built, but the walls remain in rubble.

This is not without a lack of trying. Just some group comes, and destroys the work on the walls. This is documented in the previous book, Ezra, and now, we come to Nehemiah and chapter one.

Nehemiah 1:1–4 The Message

The memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah. It was the month of Kislev in the twentieth year. At the time I was in the palace complex at Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, had just arrived from Judah with some fellow Jews. I asked them about the conditions among the Jews there who had survived the exile, and about Jerusalem. They told me, “The exile survivors who are left there in the province are in bad shape. Conditions are appalling. The wall of Jerusalem is still rubble; the city gates are still cinders.” When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven.

From this passage, Nehemiah is narrating his place, time and also his emotions. And this is where we start for today. The first step in Changing Your World in 52 days is to be an

Be an Ordinary World Changer

Nehemiah, with the power he had, could have delegated, or in modern terms, tweeted it and let it go. But he didn’t. In fact, he did something extraordinary, even in ancient times. He felt the pain of what is happening in Jerusalem, that the first thing he did was sit down and cry. He even said it,

Nehemiah 1:4 The Message

When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven.

The news from his brother affected him so much that it causes pain to the point that he just cried. I am not talking about when Spock died in the Wrath of Khan, or throughout the anime, Your Lie in April. We are talking a life altering, kick to the nethers, cry.

Remember I said that God will use us, and others, to change things in our lives? Well, God was preparing the way for Nehemiah to execute the plan to save Jerusalem. The first part is to make sure God finds someone so broken about an issue, that is to say, feels a deep, crushing emotion, that it breaks the heart, almost physically. The first step really is simple. If something breaks your heart, and you want to cry, then just sit down and cry. This step is critical, because it normally asks, subconsciously, “What can I do?” That question brings us to the second step in being an ordinary world changer: Kneel down and pray.

This is what Nehemiah did.

Nehemiah 1:4 The Message

When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven.

So, while he was weeping for days, Nehemiah prayed, and fasted. His emotions are so whacked, that by using prayer, he can calm his emotions, and receive God’s message to him. In fact, Nehemiah mentions the act of praying 12 times throughout his narrative. The best leaders are the ones who are calm, cool and focused during battles, whether in war or in the world. They never show emotion, and always make sure they are secluded from their charges before being emotional. Ulysses Grant did this after the battle of Shiloh. His friend, William Sherman, found him under a tree, away from camp, weeping. Once Sheman arrived, Grant composed himself, then said, “We’ll lick ‘em tomorrow.” No one is above tears and prayer. Because once you are done with both, now is the time to act.

Seriously, you must stand up and act. In my family, we are given three days to mourn, feel pity, cry, or even be depressed when something hurts us badly. The reason is because we have to stand up and take action, almost immediately. What did Nehemiah do? Well, let us skip to chapter two.

Nehemiah 2:1–5 The Message

It was the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king. At the hour for serving wine I brought it in and gave it to the king. I had never been hangdog in his presence before, so he asked me, “Why the long face? You’re not sick are you? Or are you depressed?” That made me all the more agitated. I said, “Long live the king! And why shouldn’t I be depressed when the city, the city where all my family is buried, is in ruins and the city gates have been reduced to cinders?” The king then asked me, “So what do you want?” Praying under my breath to the God-of-Heaven, I said, “If it please the king, and if the king thinks well of me, send me to Judah, to the city where my family is buried, so that I can rebuild it.”

The first thing about this is that the King noticed his servant’s change in attitude. The second, is that Artaxerxes respected his servant and listened. Third, Nehemiah prayed before he spoke. You see, we develop habits at work, home and with our friends. When we keep to our duties with a positive and respected manner with these groups, if something changes, it disrupts the natural flow of the community. People ask questions. When your attitude changes, people notice. Adding prayer prior to explaining a situation give you time to check your emotions when you do answer the all important, “Is there something wrong?”

But here is the twist. God does not want you to fix everything. I know, novel concept. His focus will be the focus you give to that one world issue that causes you great distress. But, for Him to fulfill this promise to change, you have to stand up and act on it, just like Nehemiah does, as we will find out next week.

So, from all of us here at The Greater Guild, thank you for watching. If you want to know more about us, head over to greaterguild.com. As with every week, I pray all of you have good health, wealth and happiness. I will see you next week.