Grieved Enough to Act
It grieved me bitterly (Nehemiah 13:8a, NKJV)…
There are those things that weigh heavy on our hearts…
…and, there are those things that are HEAVY on our hearts.
We’ve all experienced both.
The weight of the burden.
The depth of the grief.
The piercing sorrow.
The poking finger of anguish.
The wishing that what our eyes see is not reality.
It’s how Nehemiah felt when he returned to Jerusalem.
He’d seen the wall finished.
He’d experienced the joy of revival.
He’d returned to serve the King of Babylon with all things well in Israel.
But, when he came back.
What he left and what he returned to didn’t look the same.
Oh, how fast the slide downward, when godly leadership disappears.
The temple had been defiled.
In fact, Nehemiah’s greatest enemy was given a room there.
And, the temple courts had been turned into a marketplace.
Those who served in the temple were being neglected.
The Sabbath was being treated like an ordinary workday.
God’s people were intermarrying with the surrounding nations.
Parents had stopped teaching their children the language and ways of their people, AND, more importantly, the ways of their God.
Oh, how great the spiritual decline!
He could have just left things alone.
Played the nice guy.
Turned a blind eye.
Kept the peace.
But, his heart was grieved.
He was deeply displeased.
And, there comes a time, when we just can not be silent when God’s Word and His Ways are being ignored.
So, Nehemiah-the-confronter emerged…
Not because he loved conflict.
But because he loved God too much to pretend everything was fine.
To set about putting things right once again.
Calling people back.
Waking them up.
To remind them of the strength and joy found in the Lord.
Nobody wants to be the bad guy.
Nobody particularly enjoys being the one who says, “This isn’t right.”
But when the people of God live in such a way that the watching world sees little evidence of the holiness, power, and goodness of the God we claim to follow, perhaps accountability is one of the first steps toward change.
And, I admit it.
Confrontation is not my forte.
But maybe the greater question isn’t whether I’m comfortable confronting.
Maybe it’s whether I’m grieved enough to speak when speaking is necessary.
Because sometimes what the Church needs isn’t another comfortable word to tickle ears.
Sometimes, we need a wake-up call.
So, I wonder…
Can I be that Nehemiah when necessary?
Can I love the Lord, His Word, and His people enough to speak—even when silence would be so much easier?
And, that’s just a thought!
