October 8

It is Friday and that means accountability day. Send me a one sentence email telling me where you are on the journey. Do not be ashamed if you have fallen off the pace; the beauty of our journey is you can pick up and get back in the race.

Have you ever been faced with an impossible situation? Maybe it has to do with your work, a family member, a financial burden or a broken relationship. Our world is filled with 1000’s of impossible situations.

We begin the story of a man facing an impossible situation. The key to understanding his hopelessness is that the walls of Jerusalem had been knocked down for 90 years. Everyone knew that those walls would never again be built. It was just too big of a job. That is the impossible situation where our story begins.

Nehemiah takes 4 initial action steps:

First... he clearly defines the problem. Someone said, “A problem well defined is a problem half solved.”
Second... he looks to God for hope. He takes time to prepare his heart for the situation. Fasting and prayer are the tools we have at our disposal to connect with the living God. Finding hope in impossible situations is nothing less than finding God.
Third... he examines his own heart condition. In his prayer in verses 6 and 7 he takes responsibility for his sin and the sin of the nation. Hope is not found when we play the role of victim. Hope begins with repentance and responsibility.
Lastly... he and they Israelites put their hands and backs into the task. In football terms they got off the bench and started playing the game. Too many Christians are spectators when God has called us to be participants. Faith works; faith that doesn't work isn't faith at all.

In recent days our nation has been shocked at the number of hopeless children who have taken their lives through suicide. For many people in America, life has become impossible. Remember this: there are no hopeless situations, only people who have lost their hope. Restore your hope in the awesome God who has called us to be victors in impossible situations.