Nehemiah 2:3 I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
Nehemiah had a pressing burden to rebuild the burnt down city that was ravaged by war and impoverished by scarcity and shame. He had a burden to bolster the remnant of his countrymen and rebuild the city walls.
A burden fueled by passion turns into purpose. As we watch the homes, hospitals and hoods in Ukraine being barraged by gunfire, an untold misery grips our heart. If we walk away from our television and forget about it, we have quenched the burden. The burden should kindle a fire in us to stop the bestiality. Monetary contribution and/or fasting praying for the devastated nation will turn the burden into a passionate purpose.
Nehemiah did not express momentary sympathy and then turned apathetic once he got back into his busy routine. Despite his own challenges of making a living in a pagan land, raising a family, conundrums at work, religious oppositions and cultural confrontations, he turned the burden that God placed in his heart into a blessing. Nehemiah was an executive in the king’s palace yet he took unpaid leave for several months to travel back to his hometown and renovate his hometown. His burden wiped away the stigma of the marginalized, disgraced and famished nation. It was the burden of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela that brought freedom to their countrymen. It is the burden in our hearts that will build the kingdom of God.
Turning burdens into blessing:
1. Burden: A burden can crush or construct. We could be burdened about the blind, bound, brokenhearted, the poor, improvised and the deprived. A life without purpose is dead. To find your purpose, leverage the burden in your heart with compassion and passion. “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” – Theodore Roosevelt. Carrying a burden will crush but igniting a burden will construct lives, homes and communities. Caring is constructive.
2. Bolster: A burden for others will be wasted energy if it is ignored. Bolster a burden by understanding the need. If we wait for our lives to be perfected before we share the burdens of another, we will never get to support others. Blessing others alleviates our burdens. Nehemiah encouraged his hopeless countrymen and boosted their faith. Supporting others lightens our burden.
- Build: Not all of us are called to be soldiers and social workers but all of us are called to build the broken and downtrodden around us. Start with the next door neighbour or the grumpy colleague. If all we can do is to encourage and pray, we must do it passionately. Prayer builds lives and homes.
Burden is the burning coal simmering in our heart. Fan and flame the burden into a purposeful bonfire.
Nehemiah 2:18b “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, May I have the insight to identify the burden in my heart and fan it into a divine purpose to rebuild lives. Amen.
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