Today's passage is Nehemiah 5:1-19.
Nehemiah responds angrily and thoughtfully to the people's complaint against the rich, making them return land and money.
Although Nehemiah is the governor of Judah, he does not take his allotment of food but rather spends his own money and feeds 150 every day.
He and his men are focused on repairing the wall not acquiring wealth.
vv. 6,7. When Nehemiah heard the outcry of the people against their oppressors, he acted in a sequence that I did not when I expelled the boy from my school.
First, he listened to the events, then he had an emotional response, then he reflected on the events, then he made a judgment, and then he took action. So, his order is listen, feel, reflect, judge, act.
I did not follow that sequence when I expelled the boy.
In fact, I don't think I've ever followed that sequence for any serious even in my life.
I hear about something but then react emotionally, my judgement and action all tied up with my feeling.
I have no objectivity.
Because I have no objectivity, I cannot truly access God's mind and act according to his will.
God prepared me to hear his thinking in Nehemiah by giving me an event that showed me how personally I react to situations and how wrongfully, failing utterly to show love.
I don't follow his sequence of listen, feel, reflect, judge and act.
The motto I gave to my school is: Explore, Reflect, Apply. It is so close to what Nehemiah shows me I ought to be doing.
Exploring is listening, finding out, learning about, experiencing some emotion.
Reflecting and applying are what Nehemiah does so well but I didn't, which is why I had to repent so deeply, like the rich people of Jerusalem.
Like Nehemiah, I have work to do on repairing the broken walls in my work and in my family.
I'm here in Carolina with my daughter, the child of a broken relationship.
Yesterday was Father's Day and I took her to church to praise God our father and tell her some of my story about my father.
I confessed some of my sinful life to her.
She is part of my broken wall.
God blessed us with a beautiful day of sharing love.
Yesterday I shared a little bit of how I expelled the boy from my school.
She was very interested.
Today I will go more deeply with her and share today's passage and Nehemiah's sequence.
