There’s an “it” that gnaws at each one of us - that issue that bothers us, but better to stay comfortable by relegating it to the back of our minds, something to be dealt with on another day and another time. It could be an open secret in a marriage, a purpose we’ve found excuses for not being realized or perhaps, we’ve chosen to step over the rubble of what’s left of a life once carved out than dealing with it head-on.  

We had a special guest at VOUS in Pastor Micahn Carter who asked us of our “it,” why we haven’t dealt with it, and charged us in his message to Pick It Up.  He shared from the Book of Nehemiah and how Nehemiah lived comfortably in the king’s palace until receiving the message about the walls of Jerusalem in ruins. 

Pastor Micahn showed us that though the walls of Jerusalem were in ruins for 120 years, they were rebuilt in 52 days when Nehemiah acted with a step of taking the first brick. The unique thing about Nehemiah’s story can be likened to our lives:  God uses what’s already there – what’s in us rather than from an outside source.  That we don’t need something new to rebuild what’s left of our lives if we’re willing to give it to him, just as it is. Then we can see the value he’s placed in us as he makes us strong at the broken places.