Rebuilding the Walls - How long will your journey take?

A lot of time has passed since the exile of Jerusalem. It took years to rebuild the temple and many years since has gone by. Time has taken its toll on the temple building and has kept that wall from even being built. Nehemiah soon realises that Time is not his friend and that it waits for no one. Time casts a spell on us all, first making us think that we have all the time in the world and then suddenly we realise there’s not enough time for everything we need nor want to do. Did the survivors think,  ‘We have enough time to rebuild.’; then time just kept on moving and the city was still in ruin so many years later? You see, that’s the thing with time: it’s always moving forward. We never get to go back, no matter how many times we fantasise about it, and change things nor do the things we wished we could’ve. Life has a cycle to it, and we only have ‘our time’ to complete everything that God has planned for us. 

Nehemiah requested the king’s permission to leave and go back to Jerusalem. Both the king and Queen wanted to know how long he will be away. Nehemiah was important to them and they didn't want to be without him, therefore his time to complete his mission was limited. He had to give them a specific time for his return. (Nehemiah 2:6) Just think of it, a project that is due in one month doesn’t have the same urgency as a project that is due two days from now. How many times have we thought we still have time to address the broken walls in our lives and then somehow time ran out. Especially when it comes to relationships and things unsaid; forgiveness asked and forgiveness given. We’ve even mastered the art of acting like these relationship issues don’t exist and, in many cases, have entirely avoided any deep and intimate discussions. Sometimes, time heals all wounds, right? But many times, it only helps to plaster over a deeply broken wall. In my experience, the passing of time, helps with settling raging emotions and helps clear the path to have those very necessary talks. The mistake we make, is to think we have all the time in the world. While wisdom is needed on when the ‘time is right’, I believe if we earnestly seek wisdom, the ‘right time’ will come faster then we think. This goes for everything in life: financial stability; caring for children and aging parents and careers. If we live life with urgency, as if we don’t have all the time in the world, imagine how productive and satisfied we would be. How many things in our life would change?

On the other hand, some of us also think, ‘I don’t have enough time to follow my dream. I’m already so old.’ This kind of thinking can be crippling and force us to continue the status quo. When you believe that there’s not enough time to make a change, you often don’t even try. You live, day in and day out following the same path and doing the same thing. There’s no drive for more and better and there’s a sense of, ‘This is my lot in life.’ This, my dear friend, is a lie from hell itself. You see, we serve a God who is not limited by time. And, while we are limited in the natural by the course of time and we can’t go back to redo time, we don’t have to believe for what’s only humanly possible. It’s the same as when we believe for healing, right. We are physically bound by what the doctor says, and we can’t possibly think that if we stuff our bodies full of junk, that we would not get sick because of it. But, if we believe for God’s supernatural to come on our natural, and correct some bad habits, then we can transcend time. 

So, what are we to do then? We live life as if time is short and have urgency about it, but we believe God for his supernatural power, that supersedes time, to do the impossible in our lives. It took Nehemiah 52 days to rebuild the wall. If it was that easy the wall would have been built a hundred times over by now. I believe it was because Nehemiah knew he had a limited time to accomplish what he needed to do and God helped him do the impossible. God has divided time up into days, months and years. Lay before Him with your broken pieces and enquire of the Lord. Ask Him to help you with this whole idea of time. Set goals. Make changes. Live life on purpose. Success is when you complete your purpose within the confines of TIME. Myles Monroe once said that ‘time is given to provide closure to failures and weaknesses’ and that the ‘value of life is not the duration, but how effective you are’. Don’t get to the end with broken walls; unfinished business, unrealised dreams; words unspoken. Don’t regret not taking the time to say, ‘I love you’ and ‘I’m sorry’. It's time for some closure. Finish what you've started. Do the impossible. 

💖Always

Leazille

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Once again, thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts with you today.