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Hi, this is Pastor Tom and I want to welcome you back for week two of our look
through the book of Nehemiah. We're looking in this book at how to begin to
rebuild, how to re-energize, how to recharge your life. And we're looking
through seven specific steps that you see in the example of Nehemiah as he
rebuilt a wall in the city of Jerusalem.

We looked at the first step last week, reaction. You begin with how you're going
to react to the problem. And we talked about the need to spiritually recognize
the problem, not just logically, but spiritually recognize the problem through
morning and fasting and praying.

And then we began last week to look at step two, which is initiation, taking the
first step. And the fact that often the hardest part to a solution to
rebuilding, to recharging in your life is getting started, is plugging in, is
getting it going. We looked last week at the first two things that Nehemiah did
that he teaches us about how to be an initiator, how to take the first step.

He decided to take a stand and he decided to prepare for success. And this week
we begin with looking at the third and fourth, and then we're going to look at
the fourth thing that Nehemiah teaches us about how to get things going, how to
initiate. Number three, he teaches us that he decided to review the problem.

Listen to what happened in verses 11 to 13. Nehemiah writes, "I went to
Jerusalem, and after staying there three days, I set out during the night with a
few men. I not told anyone what my God had put into my heart to do for
Jerusalem.

There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on. And that night I
went through the valley gate toward the jackal well and the dung gate, examining
the walls of Jerusalem which had broken down and its gates which had been
destroyed by fire. " Now, first I have to say in that passage I just read,
probably the only thing you heard was dung gate because it just strikes us dung
gate.

What's that all about? Well, I just have to say dung happens. I mean, that's why
they had a dung gate in that day.

So now that we're past that, you can look at what Nehemiah talks about here in
his review of the problem. He went through each gate, he looked at each wall, he
looked at all of the problems. He sets out to inspect the walls.

He involves himself in a firsthand review of the problem. He finds out exactly
where the breaks in the wall are and what's needed to repair everything. And in
this, Nehemiah teaches us something very important about those who get things
started.

Instead of sitting around and moping about the unknown, the unseen, if you're
going to get things started, if you're going to take the first step, you've got
to get out. You've got to face the problem head on. You've got to see what
you're facing.

There are a lot of specific valuable aspects to a face-to-face firsthand review
of the problem. Let me just share a few of them. Number one, it cuts the problem
down to a manageable size.

I told you as I began this study that it first came out of a time when the
church I was pastoring was flooded and the homes of most of our members,
including our home, were flooded under nine feet of water, five feet of water,
depending on the home. Well, this became big news. I mean, the first place we
saw our homes and what had happened was on national news when we were in a city
across on the other side where there was no flood, just sitting watching
national news and you see your neighborhood, you see your house, it looks
impossible.

It looks like a disaster that you could never recover from. But I have to tell
you that when I got into a boat of one of my friends, there was still water in
our neighborhood, a couple feet of water, and we took that boat and we rode in
to see the houses, to see our house, to see the church, it looked like a lot of
work. It looked like there was a lot to be done, but it no longer looked
unmanageable.

Looking at the problem, getting out to see it can cut it down to manageable
size. Face the problem and there's every possibility that God's going to show
you how to manage the solution. That's the first thing you do.

You learn when you face the problem is you learn it gets cut down to manageable
size. The second thing is it gives you a sense of the immediate need. Sometimes
when there's a problem, we all do this, we procrastinate by sticking the problem
off in a corner.

And when you do that, that problem actually grows in that corner. You're
ignoring it, but in the back of your mind, it's actually growing into your
biggest worry. When you don't want to face it, it actually grows larger and
larger and you grow subconsciously more and more anxious about it.

But when you face the problem, then you start to see the immediacy of the need.
And that need will motivate you to get going, to take the first step. You move
from this fuzzy feeling of I really should, I really should do something about
this.

When you face the problem, you begin to think I will do this about it. It
changes everything. And then another thing that facing the problem does, a
first-hand review does, is it renews a spirit of personal responsibility about
the problem.

And no longer do you think, well, that's their responsibility, it's his
responsibility, her responsibility. As long as you think that, nothing is ever
going to get done. It's when you face the problem that you make it yours to
solve.

And that's when you begin to take the first steps to get it started. So part of
initiating is getting out first-hand review of the problem. That's the third
thing that Nehemiah teaches us.

And then he teaches us a fourth thing. And this one is vital. Number four, he
decided to ask for help.

Listen to verses 17 and 18. And then I said to them, you see the trouble we're
in. Jerusalem lies in ruins and its gates have been burned with fire.

Come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and we will no longer be in disgrace.
And I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king
had said And they replied, let us start rebuilding. And so they began this good
work.

So the wisest thing that Nehemiah did as an initiator here in chapter two was he
recognized he couldn't do it alone. Here in verses 17 and 18, he recognized that
initiators are not independent. He asked for help.

The walls were huge. The job was tremendous. Without help, Nehemiah would have
just been a lone crusader.

But with help, he rebuilt the wall. Rebuilding anything is a lot of work. And so
you need help.

Rebuilding a career, rebuilding a building, rebuilding a relationship,
rebuilding a marriage, rebuilding a ministry, it's a lot of work. And so you
need help. To get help, here's just a very simple principle of life.

To get help, you have to ask for help. It doesn't come without you asking. You
think, well, it should come.

People should just notice and they should just show up and help me. Doesn't
happen that way. In fact, even God says ask and it will be given to you.

Even God asks us to ask so that he will help us in our lives. You need help to
rebuild. Carpenters to rebuild a house, counseling to rebuild a marriage,
training to rebuild a career.

You ask for help. Now let me just be honest. Like probably a lot of you, I don't
always like to ask for help.

A lot of times I'd rather do it myself. Maybe it's pride because I feel like I
did it myself. Maybe it's I don't want to bother other people.

I think they've got important things going on in their lives. But the truth of
the matter is, if I don't ask for help, I'm going to live a very lonely life.
Facing this situation many years ago of rebuilding a house, rebuilding a church,
rebuilding an entire community, I had to make a decision.

Was I going to try to do it alone and go it alone? If I had, I would have become
a bitter, angry man. Or was I going to ask for help to get the rebuilding done?

When you do that, you find out there are people who want to help and all of a
sudden everything changes. I'll never forget many, many years ago seeing the old
news reporter Charles Carrault do a story of a guy named Gordon Bushnell who was
building a highway in Minnesota that he thought that the government should build
but they weren't building. 200-mile highway.

He decided he'd build it himself with a small tractor and a shovel. He spent 25
years on this project. And in that 25 years, he built nine miles or at least
cleared enough for nine miles of that highway.

And then he died. Now for a lot of us, we think, wow, look at what he did. But
the truth is, the project did not get finished because he was doing it alone.

It sounds very American, very independent, very inspiring. But the truth is, the
road never got built. You have to ask yourself, do you want to be a lonely
crusader or do you want to be a rebuilder, someone who really gets things done,
makes a difference in your life?

To rebuild, you have to make Nehemiah's decision. And one of the key components
of rebuilding is being an initiator. What we've talked about the last couple of
days, last week and now this week, you have to decide to take a stand.

You have to decide to prepare for success. You have to decide to review the
problem. And then finally, and I think most importantly, you have to decide to
ask for help.

So let's pray for just a moment, beginning by asking God for his help. Right now
in prayer, I want to invite you that place in your life that needs some
rebuilding, your faith, your heart, a relationship, a career, something
practical. Right now, say, God, I need your help.

I need your help. I need your strength. I need your help.

And I also need your strength to ask others for help. I know you didn't build me
to live life alone. I know you built me to live in relationship with others.

So God, even as I ask for your help, I pray for help from others. And I pray
you'd help me, strengthen me to ask for that help from the right person. And
Lord, if it doesn't come right away, strengthen me to keep on asking.

I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, tomorrow we're going to take a look
together at the third step of rebuilding, the step of appreciation.