The walls rebuilt

I've already posted once today, but would be remiss not to share this.

So right after I lost my job I got a call from a friend. She said a mutual friend let her know that she heard a message in church that Sunday and that she was certain it was a message that I needed to hear. Aside from wondering why, if that be the case, God didn't lay this message on the heart of my own preacher, I was all ears.

She said the message was from Nehemiah and that it was about the walls of Jerusalem being rebuilt. The message to me and my husband was that the walls would be rebuilt. Our lives would be restored.

Nice message. Nice thought. I will admit I was not in a great place, emotionally, speaking, but I stored it away and like Mary, "pondered it in my heart". And it stayed back there in the back of my head. A constant theme in my prayers, analogies, thoughts. I drew hope from this message. I had peace.

Along the way there was hassle and disappointment but I clung to the thought anyway as more and more I saw the vision of what being rebuilt would look like.

Two weeks ago I found out my husband's former company was rehiring. This was his dream job. The company that laid him off and started this whole craziness we've been living in. A week ago he found out they were flying him to Dallas for an interview. Yesterday he went to Dallas and today he was told he was HIRED.. Nearly THREE years of unemployment, Friends! It's over. If you have read my monster of a post from earlier this week you know all the other stuff we have gone through, things we have lost.

I went to email one of our Elders and thought it would be nice to quote a passage from Nehemiah. I didn't find one that I wanted to use. What I DID find was this:
Nehemiah 6:15-16
The Wall Completed

15 The wall was completed in 52 days, on the twenty- fifth day of the month Elul. 16 When all our enemies heard this, all the surrounding nations were intimidated and lost their confidence, for they realized that this task had been accomplished by our God.

I hadn't read this far when my friend first called me. Why didn't I? I couldnt see past my own disappointment at that moment to believe. I was like Sarah, I laughed. If I had only read a little further, then, I would have been told right then what God meant to accomplish. When I read this, I had to go look at my emails! Do you want to guess how many days it was since we received this "message"? Yes, 52 days. In 52 days God rebuilt our walls.

Why wasn't this message given to my minister? Really? Is it all about me? I have 2 friends now who heard the message and believed. They both were convinced it was for me to hear and delivered to me. What do you suppose this has done for their faith?

Let me tell you something. If you are struggling. If trials surround you on every side and you just don't know if even hears you, let me assure you, He does. It's been my experience that the problem is that there is something keeping YOU from hearing HIM. I can talk about this with conviction and assurance because I'm on the other side of it now. I've been down in the valley. For a LONG time I was in the valley. Now I'm on the mountaintop (or at least I think I am, I can't imagine it gets any better than this!) and I'm sending out the message: God is still here! He still moves among us. Through His word and through His Spirit. Pray that God will help you let go of whatever it blocking your sight and when you do receive direction, act on it! It takes faith, but what other choice do you have?

Jehovah Jirah. The God that sees.