10 But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant heard this, it displeased them greatly that someone had come to seek the welfare of the people of Israel. 11 So I went to Jerusalem and was there three days. 12 Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me. And I told no one what my God had put into my heart to do for Jerusalem. There was no animal with me but the one on which I rode.
When you do the right thing, you don’t need to announce it with trumpets. Word will get around. When the people of God returned to Jerusalem after their captivity, they found the temple in Jerusalem in ruins, as were its walls. Nehemiah took it upon himself to lead a project to restore the walls that protect the people from enemies. Notice how he did not call it Nehemiah Ministries and advertise. He simply did it quietly. People still found out, both opponents and those who shared the vision. The walls were built in 52 days and God was glorified. Simple obedience brought extraordinary results.
We are the Warming Center here in Cape May. We will be hosting homeless people on Code Blue nights. We are advertising for volunteers and donations. Word is getting around and people are sharing the vision. The challenge for us is to simply be obedient and quietly obey the command of Jesus to love our neighbor and feed the poor. The temptation is to tell everyone how great we are that we are doing this thing. May we, and you, learn the lesson of Nehemiah, that, if the Lord wants it done, it will be done, by others if not by us. When we obey the Lord…
Word gets around.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church