You’re reading NEHEMIAH: LESSONS IN REBUILDING, by Eric Elder, featuring 15 inspiring devotionals based on one of the most ambitious rebuilding projects of all time. Also available in paperback and eBook formats in our bookstore for a donation of any size!

Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 1:11b 

If God has called you to rebuild something in your life, do you have any idea why He called you to do it?  Why He didn’t call on someone else?

Maybe you don’t feel particularly qualified to undertake the project God has put on your heart.  If so, I’d like to encourage you to take a closer look at a few of the reasons God may have called you, specifically.

Nehemiah may have thought that he was an unlikely candidate to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.  As far as we know, he wasn’t an architect, a bricklayer or a gate builder.  He was, as he tells us at the end of Nehemiah chapter 1, a cupbearer:

“I was cupbearer to the king” (Nehemiah 1:11b). 

As cupbearer to the king, Nehemiah was a servant in the king’s court, serving the king his wine.  Yet God called him to undertake one of the greatest rebuilding projects documented in the Bible.  He may have wondered why God called him specifically, too.  In fact, just a few verses later, when Nehemiah approached the king with his idea, Nehemiah says,

“I was very much afraid” (Nehemiah 2:2b).

He had a lot to fear as a servant to a king in a foreign land.  Yet there was something about Nehemiah’s position that made him a more likely candidate than even he may have realized.  As cupbearer, Nehemiah was in a highly trusted position.  The king literally had to trust his cupbearer with his life, because anyone might try to poison him at any time.  The cupbearer helped to keep the king alive.

As you can read throughout the rest of the book of Nehemiah, you’ll see that God used the trust that Nehemiah had earned to give him great favor with the king.  God moved on the king’s heart to provide Nehemiah with the resources he needed to rebuild the wall, to send him letters of safe passage back to Jerusalem, and to eventually appoint Nehemiah as the governor of the rebuilt city.

So even though Nehemiah felt “very much afraid,” God had very good reasons for choosing him!  Nehemiah acknowledged his position, both the fear he felt and willingness he showed to use whatever favor God had given him to advance this project.

Queen Esther faced the same dilemma when her people were about to be destroyed.  As wife of another king, she was in a unique position to ask him to overturn a wrongful law of the land.  Yet, she also knew that approaching the king with such a request could mean death for her if the king felt insulted by her approach.  Still, Esther’s cousin Mordecai reminded her of her unique position, saying,

“And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14b).

So Esther acknowledged her position, recognizing both the incredible impossibility and the incredible possibility of what God had laid before her.  In the end, she concluded that she would go to the king no matter what, saying,

“And if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16b).

God used both her humility and her unique position to save the lives of her people.

Maybe you feel like there’s no way you can move forward with what God’s called you to do.  But know this:  if God has put a special project on your heart, know that He has a very good reason for choosing you!  And if you look closely at some of His reasons, they may just give you the confidence you need to move forward, too.

Maybe it’s simply because you have a stronger desire to see it succeed than anyone else.  Maybe it’s because the project involves people or places close to you, so you have a greater vested interest in the outcome than anyone else.  Maybe it’s because of the unique position God has given you in life, a position that gives you access to resources others may not have.

Whatever the reasons, acknowledge your position, recognizing both the incredible impossibility and the incredible possibility of what God has laid before you.  Then ask Him for help to move past your fears and move on with the task at hand.

Prayer: Father, help me to see why You have called me, specifically, to this task.  Give me insight so that I can get the courage I need to move past my fears.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.