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Friday March 11, 2016

Clearly defining a problem and giving it a solution is not enough. If people do not feel that there is something in it for them, they are simply not going to act. God created us with a divine purpose and our purpose is to be the solution to the problems that concern God. We are not here to just solve any problem; we are here to solve the problems that are important to God.

God is always concerned with people’s lives. That is why the Bible tells us that God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but rather have eternal life. God is concerned with the well being of the people He created. The problem is that many people are often more concerned with things that are of very little or no concern to God and so they have settled on living in less than graceful circumstances. For many, this has become their way of life.

When Nehemiah gathered the people of Jerusalem, he was aware that defining and offering a solution to the problem would not be incentive enough for them to act. After all, the people had become accustomed to the problem. They no longer saw torn down walls; they simply saw life as usual. Somehow, the people had grown use to their environment. They had no national pride; they were content to live in a state of national disgrace.

Contrary to the people of Jerusalem, Nehemiah not only viewed Jerusalem as a national disgrace, he saw it as an embarrassment to God. God had commissioned the people to be a light to the world. They were supposed to be like no other nation on the face of the earth. However, no one could have noticed by looking at the way in which the people lived.

 Nehemiah 1:17 NIV

Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.

Nehemiah’s vision for Jerusalem far exceeded the task of rebuilding the walls. For Nehemiah, this had far more to do with reestablishing the grace and dignity of God through the people and the city of Jerusalem. Nehemiah understood that presenting the problem and offering the solution was not enough. He had to incentivize the people to want to solve the problem. Nehemiah had to give them a reason for wanting to rebuild. He reasoned: let us rebuild and we will no longer be a disgrace! Defining the problem and presenting a solution is not enough, there needs to be an incentive to want to solve the problem.