I don’t know if you have heard about Nehemiah but he has his own book in the Bible and his story is pretty unique.
Nehemiah was a cupbearer for the king of his time when his story began to get interesting. He was basically the guy assigned to taste test all the drinks to be given to the king to make sure they weren’t poisoned. As you can imagine, this was a really tedious role at times.
It was during that job that Nehemiah heard that the Jews, his people, were in great trouble because the walls of their city had been broken down. Crushed city walls was a big deal back then. You couldn’t have a city without walls to protect you. Nehemiah mourns for this news and he feels God’s hand upon him, telling him he is meant to do something about this. He was going to be play a part in the redemption story of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah had a future and a purpose ordained by God.
I think each of us is here for a reason. We all play a part. I am a big believer that we each have missions, little and big, that we fulfill throughout our lifetimes.
Right now, some of us may be feeling the growing pains of monotony. You may be at a place where you are doing the hard work but you are wondering how, or if, it will pay off.
It is so hard to stay put in a world that seems to worship the fast-paced tracks and overnight successes. It is rare that things happen overnight. In most cases, those seemingly rare “overnight” successes are actually the stories of people who have spent years toiling for a moment of recognition.
If you’ve heard or even believed any of the following lies in the last few years then I would say you are normal and you are definitely not alone:
- I don’t know what my purpose is.
- I don’t believe God will use me.
- I feel like I am doing pointless work.
- I don’t matter.
- I don’t know what my calling is, therefore I am not going anywhere.
- None of this matters.
- I will never make a difference.
I hear these lies. A lot of us do. I don’t think we will ever get to extinguish all the lies that try to make us play small. But I think we can get better at moving forward anyway.
In the face of ugly lies, let’s be people who do the hard work anyway.
Nehemiah kept working hard. He did the not-so-glamorous tasks. He kept being a cupbearer to the king. And it was there, in his role as cupbearer to the king, that he got to tell the king his request, and about his calling; and God used him mightily to rebuild the walls of that nation.
Dear reader, wherever you are, you’re not there by accident. I believe that wholeheartedly; and I tell myself this every single day: God, help me to see this is never an accident.
It’s easy to think it doesn’t matter. It’s noble to wake up, get dressed, and do the work no one else will see because you know it matters. If you have even a stitch of hope in your heart that some of this might matter then keep going. If you don’t have that hope right now then that’s okay. Really, you’re okay. You can borrow some of mine.
Even if you have to borrow hope, you are not alone this week. You can do hard things.
