What is the Nehemiah Challenge?

David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Abraham... there are many great people in the Bible.  Yet how many of them seem to have serious character flaws?  I believe this says a lot about our God, an all-powerful God who would choose to use flawed humans to carry out his plans.

But Nehemiah, when his time came, turned out to be different.  It's funny that most of us haven't heard of him, after all we can learn a lot from his story.  Nehemiah saw a need: The walls of his people's city, Jerusalem, had been torn down when they were taken captive by Babylon, leaving the city vulnerable.

Nehemiah was allowed by the king of Babylon to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls.  Although many of the locals strongly opposed him (rebuilding the walls could make Jerusalem seem like a threat to neighboring groups), Nehemiah was determined.  Fifty-two days later, he was finished.  Jerusalem was protected once again.

Fifty-two days!  Even with minimal help and tough opposition (the men working on the wall had to carry swords with them everywhere they went), Nehemiah was able to build a wall entirely surrounding Jerusalem in just under 2 months.  How is this possible?

Anytime Nehemiah hit a road block, he turned to God.  Multiple times through the story, Nehemiah falls to his  knees and begs God to help him succeed against the odds.  And God answers.  Because Nehemiah never loses focus on God, he never loses focus on his task.

My youth pastor has encouraged each of us to find our own "Nehemiah Challenge," and what better time to do this than the next 40 days, Lent!  Instead of giving something up, I am going to take up a task that I have tried to start several times, and failed- blogging.  I feel God is pressing this on my heart, asking me how I am using my gift of writing to glorify Him.  With God's help, I believe I will exceed where, previously, I have fallen short... as long as I remember to stay on my knees.

"The God of heaven will give us success.  We his servants will start rebuilding..." -Nehemiah 2:20