Being Visionary in 2014 (2)

Vision is more than simply what could be. After all, what could be is simply an idea or a dream. Vision also carries with it a sense of conviction. It’s not only what could be done, but what should be done. It’s something that must happen. It moves you from passive concern to action. Conviction is what gives vision a sense of urgency. You and I are convicted of the fact that God has a plan for the world and we get to be a part of it through the local church, right here at CFW.

Vision demands change. But a vision also always requires someone to champion the cause. It takes someone who is willing to put his or her neck on the line. It is someone who has the courage to act on a idea or a dream from God.

This brings us to the story of Nehemiah.

Around 587BC the Babylonians invaded Judah and destroyed the city of Jerusalem, along with Solomon’s temple. This was the third of three campaigns into that region. About 70 years after the first Babylonian invasion, Cyrus, King of Persia, gave the Jews permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Under the leadership of a man named Zerubbabel, these exiled Jews returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple. Things were looking up for a while. It seemed as if Israel was on the verge of becoming a blessed nation once again. But the people refused to turn away from the very sins that God had judged their ancestors for. The temple was not being maintained. Sacrifices had ceased. The Jews continued to adopt the religious practices and culture of the surrounding nations. By the time our story begins, the political, social, and spiritual conditions in Jerusalem were deplorable.

Meanwhile, back in Persia, a Jewish man named Nehemiah heard about the condition of his homeland.

Nehemiah 1 verses 1-4.
“The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire." When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.”

Nehemiah was so moved by what he heard that he wept. It’s not that he was weak, or emotionally unstable, but instead that he was burdened. In fact he was so burdened that it says in verse 4 he mourned and fasted and prayed for days. (Something we are going to do as church in January.) Little did he know that these deep feelings were the initial birth pains of a vision that people would be reading about thousands of years later. Notice that Nehemiah’s vision didn’t start out as a vision. It began as a concern or a burden for his nation and its people.

I want to give you Building Blocks Today

Building blocks for you personally, but also for what your part in the body of Christ is. A God ordained vision will begin as a concern. You will hear or see something that gets your attention.

Unlike many passing concerns, this will stick with you.
You will find yourself thinking about them in your free time.
You may lose sleep over them.
You won’t be able to let them go because they won’t let you go.

Nehemiah’s concern over the condition of Jerusalem consumed him. It broke his heart. Thoughts of what was, as opposed to what could be brought tears to his eyes. This was not just a casual concern…it was a vision in the making.

So what did he do?

He didn’t steal away across the desert in the night. He didn’t fabricate a reason to leave Persia. He didn’t even share his burden with other concerned Jews.  But he also didn’t allow his daily responsibilities to distract him from the burden that had gripped his heart.

No, Nehemiah chose the third and most difficult option. He chose to wait. Nehemiah knew what so many of us have a hard time remembering.

What could be and should be can’t be until God is ready for it to be. So he waited.

Habakkuk 2:2-3: “Then the Lord said to me, “write my answer in large, clear letters, on a tablet, so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else. But these things won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.”

This brings us to the second building block. More tomorrow...you are loved!