Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope

Guest (Male): Welcome to Joni Eareckson Tada Sharing Hope. Here’s a word from Joni about next steps.

Joni Eareckson Tada: Every Christian I know, every follower of Jesus I meet assures me they are praying—praying for our nation and its broken, divided, wounded, angry people. I am certain you are one of them, or at least I hope you are. Wouldn’t you agree? God is calling us to a greater degree of prayer, supplication, when it comes to national revival.

I think we all know, we’d agree, that Jesus Christ is our only peace. He is the only one who can remove, as Ephesians chapter two calls it, that "dividing wall of hostility." So much hostility. We’re so quick to point the finger of blame at others, never us. So yes, we all need Jesus Christ to heal the rift, to remove the wall of hostility in our hearts. He is our only answer.

Is there more that we can do? I think there is. There are next steps that we can take. The book of Nehemiah shows us how. Over the last few days, I’ve resonated with him, and let me tell you why. Because when Nehemiah saw his beautiful Jerusalem in shambles, its walls torn down, its people murdered in the streets, when Nehemiah saw the people broken and scattered, he says in the first chapter of his book, "I sat down and wept and mourned for days."

There’s a man who grieved over his nation, and you can relate. We weep over hatred and racism, murder. We mourn over our quiet, shaded neighborhoods, pining for the good old days, for beautiful memories of "once was." But what once was is not what God wants. He wants change. You see, Nehemiah, along with his weeping, petitions God, and then he takes action.

It’s one thing to leave a prayer in the hands of God’s sovereignty and think that he’ll use your intercessions to motivate community leaders into action. God will set things right when he’s good and ready. But it’s quite another thing to become actively engaged in God’s sovereign plan, yielding yourself as his agent of change.

Look at it. When Nehemiah interacts with King Artaxerxes, you see a guy who regards God as in control, yet is also happy to assist human action. Nehemiah, in verse 11, asks God to give success to your servant and grant him mercy in the sight of the king. Nehemiah is presenting himself as God’s man for the job of rebuilding, even though he was no community organizer, skilled in petitioning municipal powers or mediating between warring factions. He merely saw himself as a cupbearer to the king. But he knew he was God’s man for the job of reconciliation and rebuilding.

Friend, for want of prayer and fasting and social action, our nation is crumbling. It is just like Nehemiah’s day. God obviously hears our supplications for our country and its people, but will you take the next step? Will you get actively engaged in God’s plan to bring about spiritual and social change?

Guest (Female): Friend, we’d love to hear from you on this. Because think of it, what can you do to reach out and bring about reconciliation? How do you see yourself sharing Christ across that dividing wall of hostility, even with the restrictions that may surround you?

When it comes to practicing faith with your sleeves rolled up, God is not looking for people with degrees in social or criminal justice. He’s just looking for cupbearers. Cupbearers like you. Are you ready to answer God’s call on your life? Well then, we want to pray for you. Go to joniradio.org and let us know how we can pray. As always, friend, thank you for listening.