Meditations on the Call of Nehemiah

Nehemiah left all that he knew in Babylon to lead the construction of the wall around the city of Jerusalem in order to fulfill in part the restoration of the Jews from exile back into the land of Israel. How did Nehemiah come to the point at which he felt confident that his actions were the Lord’s will? How did the Lord call him to do this work for His glory?

1. Nehemiah initially acted because he saw a need.
Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.” –Nehemiah 1:1b-3

2. Nehemiah sought the Lord for success in his endeavors.
When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven … “O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.” –Nehemiah 1:4, 11a

3. Nehemiah acted because he knew that his idea was originally God’s idea.
“Remember the word which you commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’” –Nehemiah 1:8-9

4. Nehemiah used the resources that God had given him to carry out this goal.
Now I was the cupbearer to the king … I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tomb, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. –Nehemiah 1:11b, 2:3-4

5. Nehemiah’s “call” was confirmed only after he began to act, through the subtle yet clear hand of God working in direct answer to prayer and in speaking to his heart.
And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me. –Nehemiah 2:7-8
I did not tell anyone what my God was putting into my heart to do…--Nehemiah 2:12

Is the call to missions much different?