“Our Brokenness: The Building Blocks of God’s Redemption”

“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter…” (John 14:16)

The Apostle Paul wrote (of Satan) in 2 Corinthians 2:11, “For we are not ignorant of his devices."  Other translations read, "For we are not unaware of his schemes."

How many of you can say that such is true for you?  I can’t…at least, not entirely.  Paul could, though, and others could, too—hence his use of the word “we.”

So…maybe we can’t say that we’re "entirely" aware, but, perhaps, we can say that we’re, at least, partially aware of his schemes.  Fortunately, through the Spirit’s power and the illumination of scripture, we have everything we need “for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).  In this post, I want to dive right in to one of the principle arenas of the enemy’s attack in our lives.  To do this, I want to go to Nehemiah 4:1-2…

But, before we read from Nehemiah, please allow me to provide a little context for the passage we're about to read.

After the Jews were carried into exile by the Babylonians and then, subsequently, released some 70 years later, a good number of Jews returned to Jerusalem only to discover their city lying in ruins and the great wall, that had once surrounded Jerusalem, destroyed by fire.  A man, by the name of Nehemiah (and Nehemiah means, “comforter”), was raised up by God to return to Jerusalem to help the Jews recover from their shame and to rebuild the wall around their beloved city.

Okay…let’s pick things up in Nehemiah 4…

“When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed.  He ridiculed the Jews, and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, ‘What are those feeble Jews doing?  Will they restore their wall?  Will they offer sacrifices?  Will they finish in a day?  Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?’”  (Nehemiah 4:1-2)

Before we delve in too far, I want to ask you a question:  Are you familiar with the biblical concept of typology?  Typology is, in its simplest form, where something or someone in one portion of scripture can point to, foreshadow, or illuminate something or someone else in another portion of scripture.  In the book of Nehemiah, Sanballat is a type of Satan.  Now, with that in mind, go back up, and read the passage from Nehemiah 4 once more.

If you’ll look closely, this passage sheds a little light on one of the key devices of the enemy:  His accusation of God’s people at the point of their greatest weakness.  In Revelation 12:10, Satan is referred to as “The Accuser of the Brethren.”  Accusing the people of God is the enemy’s native tongue.  And, most often in scripture, the context of his accusations is the backdrop of our weaknesses and failures.  Haven’t you experienced this in your own life?  Here's an example of something I experienced recently in church:  “How can you even stand there and worship, Dave?  Just look at what happened this week—especially, on Wednesday night!  How in heaven can you legitimately worship God given the way you’ve been living this past week?  You hypocrite!  First, get your life together…THEN come and worship.”

Does anything like that sound familiar to you?

All of us, my friends, are broken.  All of us!  There are no exceptions.  All of us are in constant need for God to do for us something that we cannot do for ourselves.  It is okay to go to God with your brokenness, because, quite honestly, that's really about all we have.  After sinning with Bathsheba and then conspiring to have Uriah (Bathsheba’s husband) murdered, David wrote in Psalm 51, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”  Confronted with the depths of his own sin and personal weaknesses, David discovered that, in the final analysis, his brokenness before God was all he had, and, in the midst of that brokenness, I believe he discovered, maybe even for the first time, the depths of God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and loving-kindness.

I want to return, for a moment, to typology.  While in Nehemiah 4 we see Sanballat as a type of Satan, we can also see Nehemiah as a type of Holy Spirit.  As I wrote previously, Nehemiah means “comforter.”  What did Jesus say He was going to do after leaving the disciples and returning to the Father?  Here are His exact Words from John 14:16:  “And I will pray the Father, and He shall send you another Comforter.”  The interesting thing about Jesus’ Words here is His use of the word “another.”  In John’s gospel, Jesus is, quite deliberately, saying that He is going to ask the Father to send His followers (and that includes us!) “another” Comforter—One like Nehemiah—Who will come alongside us to help rebuild the walls of our personalities so that we will be empowered to “trust in the Lord," "to do good,” and “to dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.”  (Psalm 37:3)  That is the work of the Comforter in your life and mine:  to rebuild what’s been destroyed.

So…when the enemy of your soul comes in to attack you in your feebleness, you can, as Paul wrote, shoot right back at him with the following Words from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power  is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

While we’re on the subject of looking at scripture, I'd like to leave you with five additional passages that have been particularly encouraging and life-changing for me in this whole area:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 8:1)

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”  (Romans 8:28)

"For God is at work within you both to will and to do His good pleasure."  (Philippians 2:13)

“For I can do all things through Christ, Who gives me the strength and the power.”  (Philippians 4:13)

“Now to Him, Who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His great power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!  Amen.”  (Ephesians 3:20-21)

There is one more thing that I want to touch on before I conclude this post, and that’s this:  Throughout Nehemiah, we read of the Jews as they work, under Nehemiah’s guidance, encouragement, and leadership, to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.  Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what materials they used?  Go back and look again at Nehemiah 4:2.

Honestly, it brings tears to my eyes every time I think upon these things.  They used the rubble from the wall that had been destroyed by fire.  This is nothing but God’s grace, my friends.  He uses the brokenness in our lives to heal that very brokenness.  Everything that’s needed to restore your life and mine is already right there, and the Master Rebuilder, the Comforter, God’s Nehemiah in your life and mine, is right here, right now, working in you and in me and with you and with me to rebuild what’s been broken down and destroyed by fire.  Praise Him!

Bling