Nehemiah 6:15-7:4
The wall that Nehemiah and his people were rebuilding was finally complete. When all of their enemies heard about it, they were afraid and they also recognized this work was only accomplished with the help from God’s gracious hand. Now Nehemiah recognizing that the city that the wall is rebuilt around is small, makes preparation ahead with a vision for the city to grow once more. He appoints people and builds a foundation for the future.
Today is September 11. I remember 23 years ago when vicious and cowardly terrorists attacked the United States by hijacking four airplanes with innocent passengers on board. Two of these hijacked airplanes hit the World Trade Center in New York City. One of these planes hit the Pentagon. The fourth plane was heading towards Washington with the aims of hitting the U.S. Capitol or the White House yet brave individuals stood up and sacrificially gave their lives to protect the American people. When the two twin towers collapsed due to the extreme heat from the burning fire as a result of the planes crashing into the building, I could not believe it with my eyes. It was tragic and as a kid, I couldn’t process what was going on. How can such evil exist in this world?
In 2014, I went to New York City for the very first time and one of the areas I wanted to visit was the World Trade Center. I first went to the 9/11 Memorial Museum which was downstairs under where the original twin towers used to stand. It is one of the best museums I went to and one of the very few that made me cry, recalling the horrific memories of that day. No other museum made me that emotional with the exception of the Holocaust center. I’ll never forget that day. Yet after I visited the memorial museum, I decided to go to the new One World Trade Center also known often by it’s previous nickname: Freedom Tower. It took nearly a decade to build. I remember looking up and thinking this is marvelous! When you go inside, you take an elevator that goes incredibly fast to the top. There is no window, it’s covered with a movie being shown throughout the entire elevator, showing how the tower was built.
The last scene is the most powerful scene. It showed the building that collapsed due to the terrorist attack but after it shows the new building being rebuilt. Once it is complete, the video and the elevator stops. You enter this opaque room and then all in the sudden the window shutters open slowly and you see the entire New York City skyline from the top of One World Trade Center.
The emotions I felt that day were immense. It was a strong sense, I am proud to be an American. That even though we were beat down, even though we were attacked, even though we were anxious – that through perseverance America has proven itself once more it is the beacon of hope and light and that no one will be able to keep us down, cowering in fear. This was the feeling I got when I was standing at the top of the One World Trade Center, looking at the skyline of one of the most populous cities in this beautiful nation.
I could imagine Nehemiah feeling a similar emotion when the walls were rebuilt. They were once destroyed but God proved Himself once more that He is faithful and that when we persevere, our enemies will shutter in fear. You don’t realize this until later. Hindsight is always 20/20 and God’s timing is certainly proven later after the results are brought in. This is what we must remember. We must never forget the gracious hand of God that when He is in it, we will have confidence that nothing is impossible. We must continue to persevere knowing that God is our hope that gives us eternal promises. In His timing, in His presence, in His shadow – we know that we can accomplish anything despite the oppression and difficulty we experience.
Proverbs 11
We must place our hope in God rather than men. It says in verse 7 that “Hopes placed in mortals die with them; all the promise of their power comes to nothing.” We must remember that the greatest loyalty that we must express is not to a pastor, not to a church, but to God.
We must avoid gossip because once we are known as one that gossips, our reputation will always be forever remembered as such. It says in verse 13, “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret.” A person that gossips will never regain that confidence that others have in him or her.