In case you don't know the story of Greivis Vasquez and the Maryland Terps Mens Basketball team the past 4 years, they have been described often as inconsistent, disappointing and unreliable.  In fact, things were so bad for Greivis and Terp Basketball that before the ACC Tournament last year, many of the Terp faithful were calling for their coach to be fired and Greivis not to come back for his senior season.  Then, something funny happened. They started winning!

It started last year when got into the NCAA tournament and made it to the 2nd round with a less than talented squad.  Then, this year, they continued their winning ways as they finished the regular season number 1 in their conference. What a turn-around! Now, all of a sudden Greivis is being viewed as one of the best Maryland basketball players of all-time and was just named the ACC Player of the Year.  In addition, there are no more cries for the coach to be fired as he was just named ACC Coach of the Year!  It is amazing what winning can do.

But, they didn't just win by chance.  They won because a change happened. That change happened primarily in Greivis.  He became the leader he was recruited to be.  He became a better scorer and a better all-around player.  Because of the change that happened in him, the team changed and a renewed "winning" environment became the norm again around Terp basketball.  They were no longer characterized as inconsistent, disappointments and unreliable.  Rather, they were winners.

So how does this apply to youth ministry?  No matter who you are or what you do, people have a perception of you.  Maybe it was from a first impression or from months or years of interactions.  It does not really matter how they got that perception.  What matters is that sometimes that perception is a negative one and can impact your ministry.

For instance, there was a perception from a couple at my church that I did not really like them and that their comments and "helpful suggestions" involving their child to me were often discounted, not respected and/or appreciated.  When I heard how they really felt about me I was blown away because I had no idea they perceived me that way.  It was not until another person, outside of this situation, helped me realized what the problem was.  The problem lied within me in how I responded to them.  Although I was not attempting to be rude or disrespectful in any way, I realized that how I responded and the words I used in response were very hurtful to them.  Therefore, from that moment on, I was careful to think more before I talked to them and be very intentional about word selection and display a positive, responsive face when they talked.  It took a while, but it was very helpful to our relationship longer term.

How can you change the perception?

In order to change, you need to first identify what kind of perception people have of you.  Do they have a positive one or a negative one?  Do they think all you do is sit down and play video games?  Or do they think you are irresponsible because you are late to meetings or drive erratically?  Even though there are many negative stereotypes of youth ministers out there (i.e., we all play video games and have goatees), every youth minister is different and needs to work on different areas.  A weak area in your work may be a strong suit for another.  So find out what perception you are giving off to others around you.

Two ways you can do this are:

• Ask a few of your most trusted supporters to give you some honest feedback on what kind of perception others have of you.  Whether you feel it or not, there will be people who do not have favorable opinions of you and what you are doing.  And, more likely than not, your most trusted supporters will have heard both the good and bad about you.  By asking a few people who you know and trust, you are opening up to hearing truth behind what may appear to be negative comments.
• Do a 360 evaluation.  A 360 evaluation is used at times for pay raises or promotions, but it can also be useful for feedback and evaluations purposes. In ministry, a 360 evaluation takes feedback from peers, supervisors, and others such as volunteer leaders, parents to provide a realistic look at your performance.  There is a place for self-evaluation in this process as well.  The benefit from this type of evaluation is that you are getting opinions from many different sets of people, rather than just one manager or supervisor.

There are pros and cons to each method.  Whether you use one of the above methods or another one not mentioned, the key is to find out what kind of perception others have of you.

Sometimes we can blow off perceptions other people have of us because "those people never liked me anyways".  But the key question you need to ask yourself is where is the truth behind their perceptions.  If, after you find out others perceptions and reasons, you realize that there is no truth and those people never liked you anyways, then that is ok - at least you went through the process of examining those reasons. But to just discount someone else's opinion simply because of like/dislike will do you a disservice. Regardless of their feelings, they have this perception of you for a reason and it will either limit you or help you in ministry.

Understanding how you are being perceived by others will go a long way in your growth, development and effectiveness as a person and a minister.  Now I'm not suggesting that it is your job to make people happy and to make sure everyone likes you by doing what they want you to do.  That is not the point. What I am encouraging you to do though is to take a thorough look at how others are perceiving you and make changes where appropriated.  As in any profession, you want to be viewed with respect and be known for your effectiveness.  This helps you begin to travel to road to get there.

As was the case with Greivis Vasquez, he went from zero to hero in less than a year.  The Terps and Greivis did not win by chance.  They evaluated, grew and improved in who they were and it began to pay dividends on the court.  Similarly, by asking tough questions, evaluating and understanding the perception people have of you, you can change the environment around your ministry and be better off because of it.  Sometimes it may be hard to hear what others think or believe about you.  But, if you present it to the Lord and allow him to work in your life and ministry, you will be better off and the perception others have CAN  be changed!

TAKE A MINUTE and...

• Start assessing the kind of perception you have.  Pick one of the above feedback suggestions and begin the process of evaluating.
• Spend some time praying that God would give you a discerning heart to evaluate the truth behind the perceptions.  Then, start implementing change where needed.

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Some questions to answer:

1. Who was upset with Nehemiah for rebuilding the wall?  Why were they upset?
2. As they continued to face threats and opposition, what two things did Nehemiah and the Israelites do?

Encouragement:

Things looked so promising for Nehemiah in his quest to rebuild the Jerusalem wall and restore hope to the people of Israel.  The Lord was clearly blessing his every move and they had begun working on restoring the wall.  But then, as with all great stories you read or see in the movie theaters, we find out that nothing is ever that easy or simple.  As they were making progress on the wall, Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod became very angry and plotted ways that they could join forces to stir up trouble (Nehemiah 4:7-8).  They didn't want the Jerusalem wall to be rebuilt and they certainly didn't want hope restored to Israel so they were going to try to stop them.

So what did Nehemiah do when he was faced with this opposition?  He prayed and he protected. Everything that had happened to Nehemiah up until this point was the Lord opening doors and providing a way for the wall to be rebuilt.  Was God now going to leave him hanging after he had gotten this far?  Of course not!  In James 1:5-6 it says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."  Nehemiah needed wisdom and the Lord's help.  So he prayed and the Lord provided wisdom for what to do.

Not only did Nehemiah pray, but he protected.  He positioned people at the lowest points and the weakest areas of the wall with spears, swords and body of armor.  He made sure that people were standing guard through the day and night to protect the wall and people of Jerusalem.

Similar to Nehemiah, I believe that if God is moving in your life and/or ministry, you will face opposition somewhere.  After all, Satan can not stand to allow God to be victorious.  Whether it is a conflict in a personal relationship or an angry parent or even a discord in your leadership, if God is working, Satan will throw up opposition somewhere, somehow.  The question is how do you respond to that opposition?  Where do you turn?

TAKE A MINUTE and reflect/respond to these questions.

Application:

1. When you face hardship in your personal life, what do you normally do?
2. When you face hardship in your ministry, what do you normally do?
3. How can God be a bigger part of the answer in how you respond to those times of opposition?
4. Is there an action that you need to take based on some opposition you are facing or will face down the road?

When you face opposition, be encouraged by what Nehemiah said to those who were stationed to protect against possible attack.  He said, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes." (v. 14, emphasis mine).  In addition, in v. 20, he said, "our God will fight for us!"  Let us prayerfully and strategically continue the fight remembering always that our God is great and awesome!  He will provide us wisdom and discernment through the toughest of times and the hardest opposition.  We have to remain faithful to Him and continue to turn to Him through it all.

Possibly Related Posts:

• YM Devo: Getting Others Involved
• YM Devo: Assessing Your Walls
• YM Devo: What Are You Building?

This experience got me thinking.  Am I the only youth minister in the world working without a job description?  Even my Associate has a job description (An Elder and I crafted one for her before she came on board).  I know small or medium size churches are a little less structured than bigger churches, but I would think most youth ministers would have a job description.  Am I right or just dreaming?  Take the poll and let me know your thoughts.

In addition, the best comment involving youth ministry job descriptions will get a $5 gift card to Starbucks sent to them.

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This is 1 of my 2 dying pine trees

I have 2 pine trees in my backyard that are dying.  I don't know when they started to die, but at their current state, I doubt that I can do anything to reverse the death march they are on.   I'm not really a tree guy but I do take a look at my trees every now-and-then and I don't recall ever seeing any warning signs that they were in trouble.  To me, I think these trees were dying a lot earlier on the inside before showing visible signs of death. So now, unfortunately, all I can do is watch as both of them will soon be completely dead.

In the same way, I believe that there are people we know in our ministry or personal lives that are on a death march.  By death I am not talking about physical death such as they are dying from cancer.  Rather, I am talking about people figuratively dying because they have a self-destructive habit they have become involved with that is killing who they are.  This can be in the form of an addiction, self-injury or something else.  Even though they are not physically dying now from this, if this habit or action is not caught and treated in time, this could lead to physical death.  So it can be very serious.

We may not see or recognize the warning signs at first. Or, even if we do see warning signs, we may even brush over them as minor and not a problem because we think that the person we are close to could not possibly be doing X, Y or Z. Regardless of our response, the simple fact is that there are people around us that are dying.  But the difference between watching trees die and watching people close to us on that death march is that there is something(s) we can do to help them.

What can you do?

• Pray. As with all things, seeking Godly wisdom is the best first step you can take.  As James 1:5 says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."  You need to seek the Lord and His wisdom on this as there is no magic formula or sequence you should take in dealing with someone with a destructive habit.  Each person will respond differently, so you need to turn to God for direction.
• Look for warning signs. If you are suspecting someone you know with a self-destructing habit, you have to look for warning signs.  Whether it is an appearance change or something not quite right with a story they shared, something tipped you off to raise some concern.  Take note of these inconsistencies.  Now, more often then not, this person knows that what he/she is doing or involved with is wrong so they may be hiding things and being very secretive.  But occasionally they will slip up and you will witness something or hear something that does not gel with their story. When you suspect something not right with this person, it is best to take note of these inconsistencies for future reference.
• Ask them questions. As soon as you have enough evidence to believe something is not right, begin to challenge them and ask them questions about what is going on. By asking them questions about things you are observing, you are taking action.  You are communicating to them that you care about them and are concerned that there might be something going on that is not right.  They may not be happy with you or feel that you are jumping to conclusions or even judging them.  But keep in mind, you are not being nosey or judging them.  You are simply concerned and care about their well-being.  Although they may not appreciate it at the time, hopefully they will in the long run.
• Confront. This involves an "intervention" of some sort.  Whether it is just you, a small group or a larger group of people, the important component here is that you and a few others confront this person in need.  Matthew 18:15-16 is a perfect example here. First confront by just yourself.  Then, if they refuse to listen and you have substantial evidence, bring in another person or two.  When you confront, either by yourself or with others, you need to have a plan for what you want this person to do.  For instance, you cannot just say, "You have a problem" without giving them a way to get out of it.  Whether you want them to join a group or get involved with some sort of counseling, you need to have an action plan for this person to take.

I see larger group (5 people or more) interventions as a last straw.  It is when you are not getting through to them and you know that others have noticed a difference in this person of need as well.  Therefore, you come together as a united, caring body and share your overall concern with your friend in need.  But know, interventions are not a 100% guarantee of working as this person may feel judged and betrayed.  They may then shut everyone of the intervention group out and all the progress you have made will have been crushed.  So, tread lightly around confrontation and intervention.  But, if it needs to happen, seek the Lord for the best possible way.

These are just a few suggestions of what you can do.  Remember, this is a person in need.  You may not realize what exactly that need is but they are involved in this destructive habit or addiction for a reason. They are trying to self-medicate themselves with their actions.  But what they really need some real help from a counselor or group.  Seek the Lord and try to help as best you can.  But in the long run, for this person to be successful in dealing with this need, you have to get them involved with someone who is trained in this area.

Do you know someone in your ministry or in your personal life that is on a death march - slowly killing themselves?  It could be a student, a member of your leadership team, a parent or a close friend.  Regardless of who it is the worse thing you could possibly do is brush over it and do nothing.  When you choose to do nothing you run a very high risk of slowly watching them die because no action is taken to help them.

TAKE A MINUTE and...

1. Ask the Lord to examine your life and to see if there is anyone in your personal or ministry life that is slowly dying.
2. Then ask Him how you should respond.

Do you have another suggestion about how to respond to people you know who are killing themselves? If so, post it so we can all benefit.

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Some questions to ponder:

1. How many groups of people helped in rebuilding the wall?
2. What were some of the different jobs that were involved in rebuilding the wall?
3. How much of the wall did Nehemiah rebuild?
4. What does this show you about involving others?

Encouragement:

It was Nehemiah's passion and heart to begin to rebuild the Jerusalem wall (Nehemiah 1).  But he could not rebuild it alone.  He needed help from others. First he needed the King to let him go of his duties and head back to Jerusalem.  Then, in this passage, we see that it was others who helped rebuild the wall.  In fact, there were so many groups of people involved in helping that Nehemiah was not even mentioned as being apart of any of the repair crews!

In the same way, when we are called into a ministry position, people will look towards us for leadership, vision and direction.  Like Nehemiah, God has given us a vision, passion and desire to undertake this ministry.  But just as Nehemiah knew that he would not be able to build the wall all by himself, we need to recognize our need for help.  Without help and support from others, our effectiveness and ability to succeed will be limited.

Whether it is in our personal lives or in ministry, you need to get others involved.  Much is at stake - your families, marriages, the lives of youth you serve and their families.  That is why you need to surround yourself with others who will care for and support you personally as well as help you fight in this mission to win youth for the Lord.  If you try to pull a Lone Ranger and go after Christ and youth alone, you run the risk of never truly being effective as a follower and minister of Him.

Personal Application:

1. What kind of support network do you and your family have that encourages you in your life, your relationship with Christ and your marriage?
2. If you do not have a group of people that encourages you in these areas, identify a person or group of people you can get involved with so that you can have the fellowship and accountability you need to thrive.

Ministry Application:

1. Examine what kind of help you have in reaching students for Christ.  Do you have enough adequate help?
2. If you do not, what is 1 thing you could do this week to get more people involved so that you can be reaching students more effectively?
3. If you do have adequate support, DELEGATE at least 1 thing you normally do to a volunteer.  That way you are encouraging and inspiring them to be more effective in their ministry.

In all, it took the people of Jerusalem 54 days to rebuild the wall (Nehemiah 6:15-16).  I wonder how long it would have taken if Nehemiah just tried to rebuild it alone.  Get others involved in both your personal life and ministry.  When you do that,  you will benefit but also others will as well because they get to step up and walk alongside of you through all that life and ministry have to throw at you.

TAKE A MINUTE and pray that God would examine your life and ministry for ways that people can come alongside of you.

Possibly Related Posts:

• YM Devo: Facing Opposition
• YM Devo: Assessing Your Walls
• YM Devo: What Are You Building?

• I was hanging out with kids and we drank beer together.
• I got arrested for dealing pot.
• My girlfriend is pregnant or I am pregnant.
• I let a kid drive my car and he totaled it. What do I do now?

Even though I have had comments close to these said to me before, I am thankful that I have never had these exact comments reiterated to me. Regardless, my mind, as weird as it is, always ventures to the worst case scenarios when someone begins a statement like the one above.

So, as I'm bracing for a terrible scenario to unfold, my leader floors me as he continues. He said that he went ahead and asked 2 sophomore high school students to start thinking about being leaders down the road! Now that is a conversation starter that I have rarely experienced with another volunteer leader but welcome with open arms. This is a volunteer leader who decided to take it upon himself to plant a few seeds with some youth he has been building relationships with. Don't we all wish we had leaders who did this all the time?

This conversation encouraged me for a few reasons:

1. The leader took initiative. Not only was he actively involved with these students, but when he saw something in them, he encouraged them and planted a seed. How do you think those students felt that this leader believed in them so much that he asked them to be a leader?
2. If you were to ask me for some future leaders amongst our current students, I do not know that they would be students I would have picked out first and foremost. This is not to say these are bad students, I just do not know them! Had this leader not done this and planted the seeds, I do not know if these students would have ever been asked to think about being a leader down the road.  Our leadership potential pool just got bigger because of this volunteer leader.

Seed planting is a big part of what we do in youth ministry.  As you know, we spend countless hours with students in hopes that God impacts their lives and they become fully devoted followers of Christ. It is called seed planting because unfortunately for most of us we can pour our lives into students all throughout their adolescent lives and often see little or no fruit for our work. Do not get me wrong, there are definitely times when we see fruit from our efforts, but with the many hours we invest in the lives of students, the fruit seeing is very little compared to the seeding.  Hopefully, one day we will see the fruit of your work by getting a thank you note in the mail or a facebook message saying how much of an impact we made in their lives. So, although we may not see the fruit while we spend time with them, we plant seeds in hopes that God uses our time with them to bring them to Him one day.

Planting seeds is not just limited to instilling Christlike principles into the lives of students.  Planting seeds also means to give students the vision for a ministry to others.  Students at this stage in their lives are looking for direction and a path to follow.  They will either choose a right direction or a wrong one.  By identifying and affirming leadership traits in students, you are encouraging them to make an eternal impact in the lives of others. But, as with building into students, we may never see some students in leadership roles. Keep the end in mind and allow God's timing to take place. Whether God chooses to use them now or down the road, continue to build into them and pray that God uses them in a mighty way.  At the very least you are increasing your potential leader pool for future use.

Just because God may choose to use these students in leadership later does not mean you cannot help them develop and fine tune those qualities while they are still in your youth program.  As I have stated before, working at small to medium size churches, volunteer leaders are not necessarily easy to find. Because of that, you have to get creative in who can help you lead.  So, by encouraging students in their leadership ability, you are not only planting the seeds for future leadership but you can give them an opportunity to demonstrate and test their budding leadership potential in some way while they are still in your youth program. For instance, they could:

• Give a message to the youth or share a testimony
• Be apart of a ministry team like a welcome or program team
• Help out with a younger age group like the middle school or children's ministry

Seed planting is vital in our ministry as it gives students a path to take and affirms qualities in their own lives that can have an eternal impact.  So the question is, are you currently planting seeds? Not just building into students and sharing Christ with them but giving them a vision for an eternal impact they can help make in the lives of others?

TAKE A MINUTE and...

1. Continue to invest your life into students.  Write down the students you are currently planting seeds in.  Think through how you are encouraging them in Christ and in leadership.
2. Identify a few other students who you or another leader can start planting leadership seeds into.
3. Encourage your leaders to be planting seeds in the lives of students they are reaching out to.

If you have a thought or comment about how you have seen seed planting work effectively, post a comment below so we can all benefit.

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Some questions to process:

1. What sticks out to you in these verses?
2. What was the first thing Nehemiah did with the Jerusalem wall?
3. What was his assessment of the wall?
4. How did the workers respond to Nehemiah's challenge?

Before Nehemiah got into actually rebuilding the Jerusalem wall, he had to do an assessment of the wall.  He had to find out where the weak points were so he could hit those rough spots first.  Once those weak areas were rebuilt and strengthened, the city of Jerusalem would be stronger and better equipped to defend herself.

As you can see from the map, the Jerusalem wall covered a lot of area.  I am sure Nehemiah wasn't able to do a quick, 10 minute assessment in which he could stick blue tape by each weak or destroyed wall for the builders to know what to do.  He had to look at the structure of the area around it, look at what supplies would be needed to repair it and probably how many men it would take to repair each section.

Once he finished the assessment, he gathered support from the people and they began to rebuild the wall. Just as Nehemiah examined and assessed the Jerusalem wall, it is equally important for all of us (followers of Christ and ministers) to assess our walls to make sure we can be as strong for Christ as possible.

Encouragement:

I know it is not easy to look for weak or struggling areas in our lives or ministry.  It can be a very humbling experience.  But, as Peter points out in 1 Peter 5:5-6, when we humble ourselves, he will lift us up - "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."  We need to humble ourselves before the Lord and ask Him for his guidance and his plan for how we can improve our lives and ministry.

After Nehemiah examined the walls, he devised a plan to strengthen them.  The walls improved and was eventually rebuilt.  When we ask the Lord to inspect our hearts and reveal to us what areas need improving, we can not expect God to repair those weak areas in our lives overnight.  But if we seek God's wisdom, devise a plan and stick to it, we will be successful in rebuilding our walls as well.

TAKE A MINUTE and pray that God would allow you to see the walls in your life that you can begin to repair and strengthen them so you can glorify Him with who you are in all that you do in  your life and ministry.

Personal Application:

1. Take an assessment of your personal life.  What are some strong areas and weak areas in your life?
2. Of the weak areas, what steps do you need to take to improve them?

Ministry Application:

1. Take an assessment of your ministry.  What are the 2-3 strong walls you have standing?  What makes them solid?
2. What are the 2-3 weak walls in your ministry?  What can you do to improve them?

Possibly Related Posts:

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My backyard after the 1st 2 feet of snow fell

As I was stuck inside or close to home all week, and my schedule thrown out of whack, I had lots of different life and ministry experiences that I learned from. Here are some of the lessons learned over this past week:

1. God is bigger than 1 event. Because of Snowmageddon, we had to cancel our Super Bowl Bash.  It was the 1st year in the past 10 that I had to cancel the Party.  Whether you do a Super Bowl Party or not, we value this opportunity very much and make this into our BIGGEST outreach event we do all year so I was extremely disappointed that we had to cancel.  Despite my feelings, I realized over this time that God is bigger than just 1 event.  I always believed this in theory, but when I had to actually experience it, it really hits home.  Right after we cancelled, I began to reflect on whether I put too many eggs in this basket.  Was this the only way I allow God to reach non-believing students?  Was I limiting God?

God is much bigger than the Super Bowl and can do many more things in our ministry to reach students for Him.  I have to go before him and seek his guidance on what he wants me to do and how we can provide different opportunities for our students now.  In the same way, continue to go before God and seek his guidance and direction.  He will use our heart and passion for His glory.  I just cannot get so caught up in how I believe things should happen that I miss what God wants to do.

2. Make the best of every situation. With the cabin fever that ensued from being trapped inside a house for days, I realized that I probably wasn't alone in going stir crazy.  Therefore, as Friday appeared to be a better day with a 2nd day of melting and plowing, Katie and I organized a Pizza lunch at the Church for the youth.  We had about 10 students show up and had a great time chatting and eating together.  I learned that sometimes life throws you a curveball and almost 3 feet of snow dumps on you in a 4 day period.  As frustrating as the snow was to my regular plans for the week, God provided us with an opportunity to do something different and draw students together.  In the same way, when you are faced with an unexpected situation, ask God how He can use it for His glory and see what opportunity he provides.

3. Don't procrastinate. As we got hit with some much snow, shoveling was an important action. My wife and I (yes, my wife likes to shovel) took different shifts outside during the snowfall to keep our walkway and driveway cleared.  If we had just let it finish snowing and then shovel, we would have been out there much longer than if we just kept working towards the goal the whole time.  Sure it took time and consistency to continue to go outside and shovel, but in the long run, we were able to stay on top of it rather than trying to catch up.

One of the biggest procrastinations I see with youth ministers is to hold off working on their messages to just a day or so before.  I know each person has their different preferences, but when we procrastinate we run the chances of not finishing in time and not giving our best to the students.  Set up regular time throughout the week to go before the Lord for his direction so you can regularly process, jot down ideas and work on your message.  That way, when Friday and Saturday come along, you are just adding finishing touches to it rather than having to worry about writers block.

4. You will be sore and bruised. When you shovel as much as we have had to shovel and even go sledding, you will encounter soreness and bruises.  The day after the first 2 feet of snow happened, I was in so much pain and stiff from shoveling.  Then, as my family and I went sledding for a few days, we could come back regularly with some bruises and scrapes.

There were no major injuries, but it made me think that as a follower of Christ and minister, life is not easy and you will be constantly bruised and battered.  But do not give up hope.  Do not stop pursuing the Lord as you walk through life and help others process life as well.  It will get messy, but God has a plan and we need to rest and rely on that plan.

Again, these are just some lessons I learned this past week being stuck in my house with my perfect schedule thrown out of whack.

TAKE A MINUTE and...

• Process some recent lessons you have learned recently.  What is God trying to teach you and guide you with?

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As this will be a work in progress, if there is anything you like or dislike, please let me know so I can best meet your needs.

YM Devo: What Are You Building?

Read Nehemiah 1-2:8

Some questions to answer:

1. Who was Nehemiah?
2. What was on his heart to do?  Why do you think he wanted to do that?
3. How was God instrumental in allowing him to go on his mission?

Nehemiah was just a simple cup-bearer. He didn't have real power or authority to do anything. But his heart was to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall that was destroyed when Israel was taken over.  Why the Jerusalem wall?  It does not say for sure, but back in those days, a lot of cities had walls around them for protection against invaders.  If the walls were high and strong, the better the chance at defending against attack.  In the same way, if the walls were broken down and destroyed, the more open a city was to attack.

The reason why the Jerusalem walls were destroyed in the first place was because Israel messed up big time.  Even though they were God's chosen people, Israel continually turned their backs on the Lord by worshiping other idols.  Therefore, God allowed them to be attacked and taken over by the Babylonians.

With all this in mind, Nehemiah knew that Israel repeatedly turned their backs on the Lord (1:5-9). Nonetheless, he was deeply upset and distressed over the current state of Jerusalem.  So he went before God and prayed for a chance, an opportunity to go before the King and make his petition to rebuild the Jerusalem wall.  Then, the King noticed Nehemiah’s distressed state and asked him what he wanted. (2:1-4a). How crazy is that?  The King’s reaction and question to Nehemiah had God written all over.  Really, how many times do you think a high King would take an interest in a cup-bearer?

Nehemiah had a desire and God provided him an opportunity to go and make an impact.  But it wasn't easy.  Nehemiah was afraid to speak up to the King when given the chance (2:2). But he did share with the King his heart.  He walked through that open door the Lord provided which was the beginning of what ultimately led to Israel returning to Jerusalem from captivity.

Personal Application:

1. Is God pressing something on your heart to say or do?  What is it?
2. What are some of the fears associated with taking that step?
3. What is one step you can take to pursue the Lord's guidance?

Ministry Application:

1. What are you praying for?
2. Is the ministry you have a desire to build aligned up with what you are praying for?  Is it aligned up with the Lord's leading?
3. What are some of the challenges that may be present that can hinder your desires and prayers?
4. What is one step you can take to further pursue the Lord's direction and your desires?

Try to really separate the personal and ministry applications.  Too often when we do ministry, the personal and our ministry become intertwined to the point where we cannot tell the difference between the two.  Try your hardest to have two separate and distinct answers to these questions.

Encouragement:

If God is pressing something on your heart, go before the Lord and pray for a chance to do something with it. Nehemiah prayed for four months, from the month of Kislev (1:1) to the month of Nisan (2:1) before he was given an opportunity to speak to the King about his desire to return to Jerusalem 1.  So do not be discouraged if you do not hear back from the Lord in a day or two or even a few months. Continue to go before the Lord with what he is pressing on your heart.

Then, when God provides you with an opportunity, Carpe Diem - SEIZE THE DAY! God is giving you a chance, now do something with it.  Do not let fear or uncertainty of the unknown effect your decision to go for it or not. Seize the day and be thankful to God that he has given you this great opportunity to make an impact.

As followers of Christ and Ministers, we are constantly building.  We are building relationships, spiritual foundations for youth and ministries that will be effective for a long time.  Each person will have a different ministry depending on what the Lord lays on his or her heart.  So don't try to be someone you are not or build a ministry that is not you.  Seek the Lord and allow him to direct you so that you can build something that exceeds even your wildest dreams.

If a simple cup-bearer with a heart to do something great can walk through the open door God provided, then we can as well.  Let's go and pray for something meaningful for the Lord to do in our midst.

Footnotes:

1. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/nehemiah/2.html

Possibly Related Posts:

• YM Devo: Facing Opposition
• YM Devo: Getting Others Involved
• YM Devo: Assessing Your Walls

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