Rebuilding Our Broken WorldSample

The Importance of Walls

By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.

God has an important purpose for recording in His Word the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. A wall is a powerful symbol. It’s more than a simple structure made of stone. In Nehemiah, the walls of Jerusalem symbolize the strength and protection of God in the believer’s life. The person who goes through life without faith in God, without a relationship with Jesus Christ, must face the trials, opposition, and setbacks of life without the strong, secure defense that God provides.

If you are dealing with the wreckage of a damaged life, if you feel like an exile living among the ruins of your past, God wants to clear away the rubble and rebuild strong walls of faith in your life. He wants to restore you and empower you to truly live for Him, so He has provided a powerful example of the character needed to do just that in the person of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah was a prayerful, committed believer who followed God’s leading to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. He led his people from the rubble of despair to a celebration of rejoicing. You too can go from rubble to rejoicing as you look at the example of Nehemiah -- a man of pure faith, deep character, and godly leadership who looked up for his strength.

You may think you are not called to the role of leader, but Nehemiah is a good role model for us all because we are all called to be leaders in some arena of life. And Nehemiah shows us how a godly leader prays fervently, makes sound decisions, assembles teams, assigns tasks, faces opposition, manages crises, resolves conflicts, confronts setbacks, and celebrates victory.

Are you ready to rebuild? Whether you are burdened for the broken walls in your own life or the walls of our culture, let us look to the book of Nehemiah as a manual for pursuing not just strong walls, but God Himself, our fortress and deliverer.

Prayer: Father, thank You for Your grace to rebuild the lives of anyone who seeks Your face. Help me to see how, by Your hand, I can strengthen the walls of faith in my own life, the lives of those around me, and my culture. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2).

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This devotional material is taken from Dr. Michael Youssef’s book God, Help Me Rebuild My Broken World. Drawing principles from Nehemiah’s servant-leadership as Israel rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, an event chronicled in the book of Nehemiah, Dr. Youssef reveals our own calling to be leaders ready to spend significant time in God’s presence so that we can together rebuild our broken lives, communities, and culture.

For more information and resources from Leading The Way, please visit www.ltw.org.