Vision: Pictures Say 1000 Words Sample

Nehemiah’s task of rebuilding the wall was not planned. As you will see in Nehemiah 1, his life was interrupted by his brother, who had come to visit him and shared with him that,

'Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire. (Neh. 1:3, NIV)'

At the time of his brother’s visit, Nehemiah was living with the king as a cupbearer, far removed from the issues of the region of Jerusalem. So although his brother was bringing the issue to him, they were really issues that someone else should have been handling. He was off minding his own business, so why in the world would his brother come for a visit just to present him with a problem that had nothing to do with him?

But it was Nehemiah’s response to the problem that makes him the ideal person to model when we are being called to something much bigger than ourselves, when vision is far beyond our reach. He didn’t jump in and say, “I will figure this out, so just give me a minute to think.” Nope, not at all. The Bible tells us in Nehemiah 1:4:

When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. (NLT)