In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah is faced with sorrow and pain after he hears that his fellow Israelites are in trouble. They have been shamed because the symbol of their protection – the wall of Jerusalem – has been broken down.
Nehemiah was made aware of the broken wall in the month of Chislev on the Jewish calendar. In chapter 2 of the book, Nehemiah approached the king with his request to rebuild the wall in the month of Nisan. At first glance, this chronology doesn’t mean much. But if you do a little research on the Jewish calendar of Nehemiah’s time, there were four months between Chislev and Nisan.
In Nehemiah 1:4, we are told that Nehemiah “continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah sought God for wisdom, strength, and courage to do the tasks he had decided to do for God’s people.
Jesus of Nazareth, God living among us on earth, didn’t begin His public ministry until He was around 30 years old. He spent the 30 years prior to that growing and “becoming strong, filled with wisdom.” (Luke 2:40)
There are times in our lives that we experience periods of waiting. Maybe it’s a season of singleness, or maybe it’s waiting on God to answer prayers about our dreams and goals. Maybe we have goals, but aren’t at the stage in life that we can accomplish them.
How do we make the best use of this time (Ephesians 5:16)? How do we spend these times of waiting in a way that brings glory to God? Here are four things that might help you answer these questions.
- Shape. It can be really tempting to feel useless and bored when we view times of “waiting” as simply times of “waiting around.” But when we re-shape our mindset to view it as a time of preparation, it takes on a whole new meaning. We are given a sense of purpose as we go through our mundane, everyday tasks. We know that we are being prepared for the work God has called us to.
- Seek. Nehemiah spent four months seeking God before moving forward with his reconstruction plan. Because he strengthened his relationship with his God, he knew he could call on Him when he needed strength (Nehemiah 4:4, 5:19, 6:9). When we choose to put our spiritual health first through Bible study and prayer, we are armed with the sword of the Spirit and are better equipped to fight the Enemy when he comes to attack our rebuilding project (Nehemiah 4, 6).
- Strengthen. The times of waiting in our lives are a gift given to us by God when we have more time and energy to devote to strengthening relationships. When was the last time you read a story to your little siblings or played a game with them (Uno is my family’s personal favorite)? When did you last call your grandparents to actually talk to them? When did you meet a friend for coffee and pour over God’s Word with them? Use this window of time that the Father has given you to enrich and deepen your relationships with the people closest to you.
- Serve. As was previously mentioned, our times of preparation can be a special time that can be used to serve others. Are you good at writing? You might consider starting a blog or writing a guest post for Project Virtue. Are you a great cook? Make a meal for a mom that just had a baby or for an elderly couple that don’t cook much anymore. Redeem this time that God has given you.
A couple weeks ago, I decided that my mission for every day is that I go to bed tired and satisfied. I’m tired because I’ve done everything I could to serve others that day. I’m satisfied because I know that I’m doing exactly what my Father has asked of me: to love Him and love others.
Make it your mission to make every day count. Make every day worth living, because you know the One worth living for. This is your time of preparation to do all God has called you to do. Start preparing today!
With love,
Sarah
