Text: Nehemiah 2:1-8
Memory text:
“For by You I can run against a troop, By my God I can leap over a wall.”
Psalms 18:29 NKJV
Brother Andrew, as he was well known, was also called, God’s Smuggler. He once said, “If your vision doesn’t scare you, then both your vision and your God are too small.” As a Dutch, his life was shaped in the early years by both the horrors of World War II and the insightful influence of a small, thoughtful gift – his first Bible. He finally discovered his life’s purpose while in the refugee camp, a result of German occupation during World War II. This mission was to secretly carry God’s Word into forbidden countries. Crossing the border to the communist nations with a car full of forbidden Bible was dangerous, but he believed God would blind the eyes of the guards to the ‘contrabands’.
On one occasion, he watched as many of the cars ahead of him underwent long intensive searches. He turned the four hours of waiting into a time of fervent prayer before it got to his turn. Miraculously, as he handed over his vehicle papers, the guard scrutinized them within seconds and then waved Andrew on! Looking through the rear view mirror as he drove off, he saw the driver of the next car alighted and opened the hood of the car for inspection!
His clear purpose drove the passion that overcame all obstacles. Where others saw walls, prisons, guards, and resistance, Brother Andrew saw opportunity: “Our very mission is called ‘Open Doors’ because we believe that all doors are open, anytime and anywhere.” He added that “I literally believe that every door is open to go in and proclaim Christ, as long as you are willing to go and are not worried about coming back.”
According to our text, Nehemiah, who was a cupbearer to the Persian king Artaxerxes, discovered his life’s purpose after he was told about Jerusalem’s broken walls and gates. Grieved, Nehemiah prayed earnestly. He believed that God had put it in his heart to rebuild the walls and this created a deep passion in him, which also influenced the king to provide his cupbearer with safe passage and even supplied building materials. Passion attracts divine intervention and human favour. The king had no reason on earth to want to rebuild the city of the people his nation had conquered but to help fulfill his cupbearer’s desire! This is nothing short of a miracle!
Friends, leadership is born when one discovers a divine obligation to his community, world, and generation. Are you just existing, or are you pursuing a reason for living?
Prayer points
1. Father, please ignite passion to pursue Your purpose, which is bigger than me, in Jesus’ name.
2. I confront the spirit of fear and the obstacle against the fulfillment of my life’s purpose, in Jesus’ name.
Today’s declarations
1. God gives me a life’s purpose, which is bigger than me, so I can trust Him to help me to fulfill it.
2. I don’t just live to exist, but I pursue a reason for my existence.
Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng