A New Beginning

Greg Laurie: We can pray all day long for God to give us the strength to do something. Sometimes I've got to just do it. Just take that little step of faith. The emotions and the feelings will catch up.

Guest (Male): Sometimes the faith in our hearts has to have a talk with the action of our feet. Pastor Greg Laurie points out it needs to say, "Go."

Greg Laurie: Sometimes we’ve gotta just make the move. The time for intercession has passed. The time for intervention has come. It's time to take action.

Guest (Male): Do you ever sit in your car with the engine running, but haven't yet put it in drive? You can pray for direction all day, but at some point, you've got to step on the gas. Pastor Greg Laurie says our Christian walk is like that. There’s a time to be still and trust, but there’s also a time to move.

Maybe God is calling you to take action, just like He did with Nehemiah. Today on A New Beginning, good encouragement about stepping up and moving forward in our walk of faith.

Greg Laurie: I want you to grab your Bible and turn to Nehemiah Chapter 2. The title of my message is "Rebuilding the Ruins of Your Life." We look at our own lives, and maybe that is a picture of how our life looks, so to speak. A fire of sorts has wrecked havoc in your life, and you're looking at a pile of rubble.

Things were going along reasonably well, or so you thought, and then an explosion of sorts hit. Maybe your spouse said to you that they're done with the marriage, or your child is leaving the faith, or suddenly you're facing a health crisis of some kind, or some other event has happened and you have no ability to fix it whatsoever.

Well, that was the state of Israel in the text that we're going to be looking at right now in the book of Nehemiah. The city of Jerusalem was lying in rubble and ruins. The once proud walls that surrounded the city were now just charred, and weeds were growing over them. It was a picture not just of a city, but of the people as well.

Of course, what happened was the Israelites kept turning to false gods. God warned them through the prophets that they would face repercussions for that. They ignored the warnings of the prophets, and they were taken captivity to Babylon for 70 years. They were ruled by Nebuchadnezzar, then later by his wicked grandson, Belshazzar. Then Cyrus and the Medo-Persian forces come and conquer Babylon, and Cyrus frees the Jews to go back to their homeland again.

That's where we sort of enter the narrative. Artaxerxes is on the throne of Persia at this point, and Nehemiah, the title of the book and also a principal character in our story, is the cupbearer to the king. To be a cupbearer meant that you were in a very high-ranking position of affluence and influence. You had the king's ear.

Some think he was the second most powerful man in the kingdom. Before the king would eat the food, Nehemiah would taste it first. Something happened one day that changed everything for him. He found out the city of Jerusalem was lying in ruins after he had asked how are things going back there when someone came from Jerusalem. That’s where we pick up our message.

If you're taking notes, here’s point number one: We need to help God's people when they are hurting. We need to help God's people when they are hurting because we are the church and we are a family. The Bible compares the church to a body, specifically the body of Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 12:26, it says, "If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it. And if one part is honored, then all the parts are glad." Just as a human body is interconnected, so is the body of Christ. If you injure yourself, your whole body knows it. Even stubbing your toe. I hate to stub my toe.

You hit something and there’s the initial pain, but you know the big pain is coming in a moment. Or have you ever bitten the inside of your mouth? Am I the only one? I’m just talking and all of a sudden I go, "What was that all about?" And now it's a little swollen and you bite it again.

Because it’s swollen even more, you bite it again. So now you’re eating your food holding your cheek out. Has this happened to anybody else? Raise your hand. I’m glad I’m not the only one. It’s so embarrassing. I’ve had it happen when I’m speaking. So you’re very aware of it. If you stub your toe, you’re compensating for it, you’re kind of limping.

In the same way, if one part of the body of Christ is hurting, in effect, we all are hurting. Maybe our natural inclination is if someone is in pain we want to walk the other direction, but in reality, we should try to help them. I’ve been a pastor now for 50 years, and some things I love and some things are very hard.

For instance, it’s very hard for me to speak to you. I don’t enjoy it at all. No, I’m joking. This is actually the part I enjoy the most, the speaking. I’ll tell you what’s hard honestly: It’s funeral services. And the hardest funeral services are for children.

For all the many years I’ve been doing this, I’ve done many services, unfortunately, for children. You’re trying to find the right words to say because it’s so hard to look at a casket of someone you knew. But then when it’s a small little casket and you think of that little child, it’s very hard to deal with.

I’ve always done my best to try to bring comfort and help to families who have lost their loved one. Then one day I found myself in the front row of the church, not as the pastor, but as a grieving father. Pastor Chuck Smith spoke at my son’s funeral service, and it changed everything for me. It changed the way I looked at things.

Suddenly I found myself in a position I’d never planned on being in, which is someone who helps families who’ve lost children. I didn’t ask for this ministry, I didn’t really want this ministry, but I accepted that God let this happen to me and I did not want to waste my pain.

I found that people would listen to me because I had suffered the loss of a child. I talk to not only people in our own church, but I’ve talked to people all around the country who reach out to me. "Would you call this person? Would you talk to that person?" I’ve had families of 25 people at a time come in asking me to talk to their whole family and try to help them through it.

I don’t have any magic words for them, but what I can tell them is this is going to be very hard. You’re going to mourn this for a long time. But I want you to know that you’re going to experience joy again down the road, that happiness will return, but this will always be a pain in your life, especially a child. You never get over it.

Never ask someone who’s lost a child, "Are you over it yet?" They’ll never be over it. They’re just getting through it. They’re in different stages of getting through it. But I’ve tried to do what I can to help people in that position. As I said, I don’t want to waste my pain. The Bible tells us, "Weep with those that weep." So Nehemiah heard bad news. He goes, "I’ve got to do something."

God’s put me in this position as the cupbearer to the king. I have the ear of the most powerful man on planet Earth, and I’ve got to go to him and I’ve got to appeal to him. So yes, we are to weep with those that weep. It’s interesting the Bible says, "Weep with those that weep and rejoice with those that rejoice."

I think it's easier sometimes to weep with someone who weeps than it is to rejoice with someone who rejoices. Let me illustrate. Someone calls you and says, "Oh man, I just lost my job." "Oh, I'm so sorry." Then another person calls you and says, "Oh, I just got promoted and I'm making 20 times what I made before." And you're like, "Oh, praise God." A little jealous.

I can weep with that guy over there, but this person here, it's a little harder to rejoice with the one who is rejoicing. So Nehemiah heard about the walls of Jerusalem lying in rubble and he wanted to do something because walls mattered to them back then. Walls obviously protected the city; they were a symbol.

Walls matter now, too. For instance, the walls of faithfulness protect a marriage. The walls of marriage protect the family. The walls of the family protect our nation. The reason our nation is experiencing so many problems right now is the breakdown of the family. As I've said many times, you can look at all the stats that support it: Almost every problem in our culture today is due to the breakdown of the family.

If the family was stronger, the nation would be stronger. So we find that the walls come down and the other things begin to happen as a result. So Nehemiah hears this and he prays. He prays for four months. "Lord, you’ve got to show me what to do." This is a real example of what to do when you’re facing crisis.

Guest (Male): Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. It's a joy to hear when these studies of truth have truly impacted lives. Listen to these comments from one of our listeners.

Guest (Female): Pastor Greg, in 2022, I started listening to A New Beginning on a radio station here in Boston, Massachusetts. The way you relayed the message of the gospel spoke to me and convicted me of my need of a savior. I gave my life to Jesus that day, and you sent me a New Believer's Bible.

I devoured it. I knew absolutely nothing of Jesus and his saving grace. I’m so thoroughly grateful to you for being there on that day to share the gospel. Thank you. Oh, and it didn't end there. My husband and 12-year-old son came to Jesus later that year at my church here. Thank you so much, Pastor Greg.

Guest (Male): If you've had your life changed because of Harvest Ministries, would you let Pastor Greg know? Just drop him an email: greg@harvest.org. Again, that's greg@harvest.org. Nehemiah was in a time of crisis, just like we face times of crisis. Pastor Greg is helping us learn from his response in the message, "Rebuilding the Ruins of Your Life."

Greg Laurie: Let's pick it up in Nehemiah Chapter 2, verse 1. Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan—that’s right after the month of Toyota—during the 20th year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never appeared sad in his presence, so the king asked me, "Why are you looking so sad? You don't look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled." Then I was terrified, says Nehemiah.

But I replied, "Long live the king! How can I not be sad for the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins and the gates have been destroyed by fire?" The king asked, "How can I help you?" With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, "If it please the king and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried."

The king, with the queen beside him, asked, "How long will you be gone and when will you return?" After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request. What a powerful narrative that is. That brings me to point number two: There is a time to pray and there is a time to move. There’s a time to pray and there’s a time to move.

So here’s Nehemiah looking sad. By the way, a cupbearer was supposed to be a cheerful person, an encouraging person, someone the king would want to have around. Because of their close proximity to the king, you really weren't supposed to ever be sad in his presence. So I think you can conclude from the way the story goes is that normally Nehemiah was a pretty upbeat person, a pleasant person to be around.

Not everyone is pleasant to be around. We all know a Debbie Downer or a Bobby Buzzkill. Or worse, a Karen. I'm sorry if your name is Karen. I did not coin the name Karen. I'm sorry. It's not fair in many ways. But you know those people; they can be very difficult to deal with. You couldn't be that if you were the cupbearer.

But I think Nehemiah was a godly man and a happy man. That's a good thing to be said about a Christian: that they're cheerful, they're helpful, they're encouraging, they're always offering to help, do something a little extra, and so forth. That’s Nehemiah. So it was noticeable to the king, the change in his countenance, in his expression. He goes, "Hey man, why are you so sad? I mean, you don't look sick to me. Something must be going on."

That brings us to point number three: Nehemiah had a plan. He was praying, "Lord, open the door for me now. Open the door to have a conversation with the king. Show me the right moment." So the king asks him, he thinks, "That’s it. That’s the right moment." So Nehemiah prays.

In Nehemiah Chapter 2, verse 7, I said to the king, "If it please the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River instructing them to let me travel safely through the territories on my way to Judah. And please, give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king's forest, instructing him to give me timber. I'll need to make beams for the gates of the temple fortress, for the city walls, and a house for myself."

The king granted these requests because the gracious hand of God was on me. I love this. This is so practical. Nehemiah had already been down to Home Depot. He already figured out what he needed. He’s got the whole plan. He’s got the whole list. "Okay, well since you asked, here's what I need." He was dependent on God but he was praying and he gives God the credit. For he says in Nehemiah 2:18, "The king granted these requests because the gracious hand of God was on me."

You know, sometimes we go to two extremes when it comes to wanting to see God work in our life. One extreme is we just worry and fret and we don’t pray about it. The other is we pray but we don’t take practical steps. I heard a story about three men that came to a raging, violent river and they needed to get to the other side.

So the first man prayed, "God, give me the strength to cross the river." And poof! Suddenly he had bulging biceps and muscular legs, and he dove in and began to swim. He almost drowned, but after a couple of hours, he made it to the other side. This is a true story. So the second guy watching this says, "God, give me the strength and the tools to cross the river."

And poof! A rowboat appeared, and he was also muscular and strong. So he got in the little rowboat and paddled over, capsized twice, but after about an hour made it to the other side. The third guy says, "Hmm. God, give me the strength and the tools and the intelligence to cross a river." And poof! He became a woman.

And she pulled out a map and walked 100 feet and crossed the bridge to the other side. Did you girls like that? Did you guys like that joke? Just totally threw you and me under the bus. But see, what I like about that story—don't make too much about a man becoming a woman there, it's just a joke, okay? That's not what I'm referring to.

A man is a man, a woman is a woman, okay? It’s a joke. We got that. But there’s the spiritual and there’s the practical. This is illustrated in the children of Israel standing on the brink of the Red Sea with the Egyptian army in hot pursuit. They were between the devil and the deep blue sea.

Moses is freaking out and he’s praying, "Oh God, help!" And God’s saying, "Why are you praying? This is not a time to pray. This is a time to move. Hold your staff out over the Red Sea and cross over on dry ground to the other side." And that’s exactly what they did. Sometimes we’ve gotta just make the move. The time for intercession has passed. The time for intervention has come. It's time to take action.

Let's say you're having trouble in your marriage and you're praying, "Oh God, save my marriage. It's falling apart. Lord, do something." Okay, that’s good, pray that. But are you just doing your part, husbands? Are you seeking to love your wife as Christ loves the church as the Bible tells you to?

Or wife, you might be praying for the same thing, but the Bible says, "Wives, respect your husband." Like, make sure you're doing your part while you're praying for your marriage. Or maybe you find yourself saying, "Lord, that person, they need the gospel. They need to believe in you. Lord, just save them. I'm praying you'll just show them their need for Jesus." Amen! Good. Now go preach the gospel to them. It's good to pray, but have you preached the gospel to them yet?

Or there might be someone you need to forgive. "Lord, give me the strength to forgive this person." Good, pray that. Now just go forgive them. "Whoa, I'm not feeling it." What do you need to feel it? The Bible says be tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ has forgiven you. It doesn't say, "Make sure you feel it first, then do it."

One of my favorite stories is of a lady named Corrie ten Boom, who lived in the days of World War II and she was a Dutch lady along with her family. They hid Jewish people in their home from the Gestapo. They were eventually all sent to concentration camps, and Corrie ended up in a camp called Ravensbrück. Her sister, Betsie, died in that camp.

There was a particular commandant who treated Betsie and Corrie with horrible cruelty. So fast forward now: Corrie got out of that concentration camp and she’s speaking now, telling her story. She’s at a church in Germany, and she gave a message on how God delivered her and what God did in that camp and how she was changed.

After the end of the service, a man walks up to her and says, "Fräulein ten Boom, I wanted to thank you for your message. I too am a Christian and I actually worked at Ravensbrück." Suddenly she remembered him. She remembered him in that Nazi uniform. She remembered this was the man in particular who had treated her so cruelly. He extends his hand and says, "Please forgive me."

She looked at his hand and said, "I couldn't shake his hand." She said in an act of obedience, she took his hand and shook it and said, "I forgive you, my brother." She said like a current of electricity went through her arm and she felt it. But first she did it, you see.

So we can pray all day long for God to give us the strength to do something. Sometimes I've got to just do it. Just take that little step of faith. The emotions and the feelings will catch up. So Nehemiah has a plan. I've prayed for four months. Now it's time to do something.

Guest (Male): Great insights today on the importance of taking action. Pastor Greg Laurie with his message called "Rebuilding the Ruins of Your Life" today here on A New Beginning. Now, of course, the most effective way to rebuild a ruined life is to come to the Lord and ask Him to forgive us, to repair us, and to restore us.

Have you ever come to God in that way? Pastor Greg, what would you say to the person listening who’s just not sure if they’ve ever come to the Lord and asked Him to be their Savior?

Greg Laurie: Yes, I think they need to make this commitment to Christ. Here’s what the Bible says: Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So you need to reach out to God. Not just think about it, not just say, "One of these days I would like to." Just do it.

In fact, you can do it right now. You say, "Well, how do I call out to the name of the Lord?" You do it through prayer. God is just a prayer away. He desires a relationship with you. He wants you to know Him. He wants to reveal Himself to you. So you just need to call out and say, "Lord, save me and help me."

How about if I lead you in a prayer? And you could pray this prayer after me. You can pray it out loud if you like. You can pray it quietly in your heart. But direct this prayer toward God, and you could pray it after me right now. You ready? Pray this after me.

Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you're the Savior. And I want a relationship with you. So as your word says, I'm calling on the name of the Lord. I'm asking you to save me from my sin. And I'm asking that we begin a new relationship today. Thank you for loving me and sending your son, Jesus, to die on the cross for my sin and then raising him from the dead. I now put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): Amen. Now listen, if you have just prayed that prayer along with Pastor Greg and you’ve meant those words sincerely, let us be the first to welcome you into the family of God. And we want to help you get started off right in this new daily walk with the Lord.

Pastor Greg would like to send you his New Believer’s Bible. It's a special edition of God's Word for those who are new to the faith with scores of helps for new believers written by Pastor Greg. So get in touch and ask for the New Believer’s Bible. We'll send it your way free of charge. Just call 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or just go online to harvest.org and click the words "Know God." And then let us say a word of thanks to those who support us financially, those who make it possible for us to bring you these studies each day. We are definitely a listener-supported ministry.

It's the generosity of listeners that help us be here with these programs. So if you've partnered with us, thank you. And if you have yet to partner with us, I hope you'll get in touch today and let us know that you're standing with us. Even a small investment would help. It's actually an investment in changing lives. Thank you for partnering with us. You can donate securely online at harvest.org or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California, 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. Again, that's 1-800-821-3300.

Well, next time, good insight on the importance of teamwork in our walk with the Lord, working together with other members of the body of Christ. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Laurie.