August 12: Of Crises and Formation

Nehemiah 3:15-5:13

1 Corinthians 7:25-40

Psalm 32:1-11

Proverbs 21:5-7

Ps 32:6-8

Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found;

     surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble

     and surround me with songs of deliverance.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

     I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

In today's Old Testament reading: an impossible task, a small work force with meager resources, beset upon by more powerful people, seeking to discourage them, plotting against them.  And yet it was through this crisis God transformed the individual Israelites who had returned into one body, one community.  People worked, at great cost to themselves and their families; those who had earlier taken advantage of the workers' need appear to have ceased charging them interest on loans; and people took on the additional responsibility of protecting each other, even while they worked.  

From a disparate group of individual families working on rebuilding the wall, they were formed into one cohesive body supporting each other in doing the will of God.  How did this happen?  It wasn't as though the leadership had the power to stop the Ammonites from attacking, nor did they have the authority to stop people from charging interest.  Yet all of that DID happen - because they responded to the crisis in a manner so unorthodox in the ways of the world - they turned to God, confessed their helplessness, and prayed.  And God answered their prayers, with action and with guidance.

The psalm today confirms this.  And this is true, not just for a returning remnant; it is true for units as small as families, and as large as nations.  

Father when crisis strikes, let it be catalyst and opportunity for us to confess our helplessness before You, to seek Your guidance and Your help, to trust that You will hear and answer, and to obey Your instructions.  Let the problems You permit in our lives shape us into the individuals and into the body You want us to become.