Favor With KingsSample

The Spark

Jesus famously said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Why did he use the metaphor of a mustard seed? Probably because it was the smallest seed with which his listeners would have been familiar.

So what was his point? If your faith is in God, you need only a little to see big results.

Without faith, you’ll be blind. With faith in human things, you’ll see obstacles. With faith in God, you’ll see mountains move.

When Nehemiah arrived, there were already fifty thousand or more people living in Jerusalem. Was Nehemiah the smartest among them? Not likely. Was he the one with an engineering background? Nope. Was he the best contractor? Doubt it. In fact, when Nehemiah showed up, his skin was moisturized and his hands were callus free.

He’d been a cupbearer. That’s a cushy, white-collar job. What would make him think that he could spark such a massive effort affecting so many? It was simply his faith in the God who had given him favor and paved the way thus far.

I imagine Nehemiah looked around and saw what was once an impressive, protective city wall in shambles. There were tens of thousands of people living, exposed, inside that rectangular heap of massive stones, yet no one had successfully done anything to change their reality. And here was Nehemiah—with conviction, a plan, favor, and supplies.

“Why not me? Why not now?”

“If God is for me, who can be against me?”

I’d encourage you to ask yourself those same questions.

Nehemiah became “the spark” for the Jewish remnant settling for a lesser experience of life, because he had allowed God to spark something in him. And that spark became a flame, and that flame worked its way out through faith—faith that the God who began this good work would carry it to completion.

God uses people with passion and plans to spark great things, especially when those people remember that it was God who sparked a great thing in them to start. Nehemiah made sure that was clear, and the people followed him.

“I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work.”

Nehemiah, in my words, is saying, “This is bigger than you and me. This is a God-thing! God broke my heart. God moved me to action. God gave me favor with a king. And God supplied me with the tools we’ll need. If we fail—and I can’t imagine we’ll fail—it’s still worth all the effort, since we believe God is this. Now it’s go time!”

The people: “Let us start rebuilding.”