TOPIC:‌"It's Time to Go Forward"

                  by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap

 

TEXT:‌Nehemiah 2:11-18

 

"So I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days" (Nehemiah 2:11).

 

‌God called David Livingston to do a great work for Him in Africa. On arriving in that heathen land Livingston declared, "Anywhere, only forward." God has called us as His people to do a great work for His glory. We must go forward. We must be a people of vision and action. Someone has said that there are three kinds of people in the world. Those who don't know what is happening. Those who watch things happening. And those who make things happen.

 

‌Now Nehemiah was a man who made things happen. He was indeed a man of action. One day Nehemiah received a commission from God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. When he heard that the rebuilding was progressing slowly, he asked the King if he could go there to help the people complete the task of rebuilding the walls. So Nehemiah gave up his wealthy and comfortable position, that of being a personal assistant to the King, to return to his native land in order to rally the people into completing the work.

 

‌Let us now look at the action Nehemiah took in order to fulfill the vision that God gave him. Like David Livingston, he went forward on all fronts.

 

I.

 

‌Consider, first of all, Nehemiah went forward by FIXING his FOCUS. Notice the words found in verse 12: "And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me." He continues: "neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem." From the moment Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, everyone knew who was in charge. He immediately focused on what God wanted him to accomplish. He organized, supervised, and encouraged others to help him complete the work.

 

‌Nehemiah had a mandate from God. This mandate had come from a deep burden that led to a time of prayer and fasting. According to verse 4 of chapter 1 Nehemiah broke down and cried when he heard that Jerusalem's walls lay in waste. After diligently seeking the mind and will of God as to what must be done, God gave him a vision. And he fixed his focus on completing it.

 

‌Regarding this matter of going forward: If you do not sense a specific direction on which God is leading you, then I would tell you to stay put. Don't move! Keep doing what you are doing until God gives you a clear signal from His Word and by His Spirit to go in a different direction. All too many people I have known have jumped to a new location, a new job, or a new church only to end up realizing later that they made the decision instead of God really guiding them and . . .