Creative Writing

Walk WITH Jesus With Jim Reynolds

Today's Walk by Jim Reynolds Sound The Trumpets Burned Out -- I have been reading Nehemiah… and I see a lot of myself. Not in the great leader, mind you. I see myself in the destruction. Friends of Nehemiah described the ruined city as “in trouble,” with broken down gates and burned up walls. Nehemiah himself, in his middle-of-the-night inspection, discovered sections of wall so badly damaged he was unable to get through. All of us are trying to build something . A life. Significance. Purpose. And all of us have faced the frustration of dreams deferred and hope smashed… seemingly impassable barriers. We have felt overwhelmed by trouble, been broken by circumstances, and burned out by yet another fire we did not have the strength to put out. I wonder what it was like to have made the trek with Nehemiah. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic, bright-eyed, optimists packed their belongings from the only home they remembered and set out to discover an idyllic homeland they had only heard about. I wonder how reality hit them. How close did they get before noticing how black the walls were? How quickly did their victory tune dwindle to silence when they saw that even the black stones were no longer built as high as they should be? Brilliant Strategy -- The work of repairing the wall took in an area several miles around. To further complicate the process, the Israelites were, quite literally, surrounded by enemies. In answer, Nehemiah created two brilliant strategies. We read about the first in 4:16 -18 -- 16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor… Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. Which do you think is a more accurate picture? Did A) half of the workers work and the other half stand guard? Or B) Did ALL of the people work with a weapon in one hand and supplies / tools in the other? You can see evidence for both scenarios in the verses above. Yet, I am hard-pressed to see the logic of somehow saying, “Both.” (So… half of the workers were standing guard with a weapon in one hand and a tool in the other? And the other half were working with a weapon and a tool also? Sounds confusing… and ineffective.) The closest realistic picture is probably that half of the people were standing guard while the other half worked – but even those who worked had their weapons at their side, at the ready. Just for a minute, consider another picture. And consider how different our world would be if this were a “realistic picture.” What if those doing the work were so powerfully connected and so bonded to one another as “one body” (See Rom. 12, 1 Cor. 10-12 , Eph. 2 and 4 , Col. 3 , etc…) that they thought of the “other half” as their “other hand” ? What if those doing the work considered those standing guard as so trustworthy and capable that it would be as if the workers were using their own hands to fight (even though it was the guards' hands?) What if they trusted one another? What if they knew that when they called for help, the others would be as quick and sure as if they were using their own hands? What if we could rely on each other with such confidence? What if every time one of us gathered the resolve to send out the distress call we did so with complete confidence that we would receive all the help we needed from those around us? Is there anyone in your “orbit” that you can depend on like that? Most importantly, can others depend on you ? Brilliant Strategy -- The second strategy is related. Nehemiah 4:18-20 -- But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. 19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!" This is not just God's plan for rebuilding Jerusalem. It is His plan for rebuilding all of us bombed out walls, all of us who are working hard but harassed by various enemies. Eccl. 4:9-10 says, 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! And this is the problem. Though we are supposed to rally to the trumpet call, too often the plan becomes more like one of these options: We are afraid and embarrassed to blow the trumpet and admit we need help. We put on a holy face, grit our teeth behind a plastic smile, and claim everything is okay. Meanwhile, the enemy is absolutely demolishing our part of the wall. This is foolish and more destructive than we know. As many have warned, there is something poisonous in our spiritual atmosphere. A recent study revealed that 30 million people have changed their mind and determined there is no God. There is something horribly wrong. When virtually every sinful plague of society is at least ! as common in the church as outside it, we are “in trouble” and it is time to blow the trumpet. The trumpet sounds and we run… in the opposite direction! We tell ourselves we do not know what to do and that our bumbling will only make things worse. We re-double our efforts on our little section of the wall, and ignore the heart of God declaring, 11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? ( Proverbs 24:12 .) The trumpet sounds and we all come together – but we gather away from the trumpet blower and talk about it. “Isn't it sad?” we whisper. “Someone really ought to do something…” God's plan through Nehemiah depends on “sounding the trumpets,” in other words, calling for help. Even the hardest heart, I believe, recognizes when something is amiss. We get into the most serious trouble when we allow ourselves to be deceived or, more accurately, choose to ignore the warning bells all around us. Or, when we cry out but hear no response from those around us… those who are charged with this sacred task. All around us, right now, people are throwing out warning signals. They are crying for help from behind blackened walls of divorce and heartache, mundane religion and preoccupied lives. And whether they actually “sound the trumpet” or not is irrelevant. We must rally to their aid. Otherwise, this whole wall is coming down. When Nehemiah and the people worked together… when they fought for another (instead of with one another) the results were miraculous. Nehemiah 6:15-16 -- 15 So the wall was completed… in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. Walk WITH Jesus, Jim A shorter version Walk WITH Jesus is actually published *weekly* , via e-mail. TO SUBSCRIBE send a blank message to walkwithjesus-subscribe@associate.com Then click "Return" when you receive the confirmation request. If you believe this letter would benefit others, feel free to forward it along / post it to message boards / etc and encourage others to subscribe, please include proper credits. Jim Reynolds – John 14:1-6 Copyright April 08 ----- BIO Jim grew up – and sometimes still longs for – the suburbs of Kansas City, but now has the privilege of serving as the pastor of a rural Midwestern church. He and his wonderful, beautiful, multi-talented wife, Deanna, have two children still with them and one “Punkin Seed” waiting for them in Heaven; she “went to see her other Daddy” at the age of 5 ½ months. Jim is thrilled, humbled, and grateful for the opportunity to write for this magazine. At this writing , Jim is thrilled that he can watch baseball on television again… but wishes he wouldn't obsess over his fantasy team so much.

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Burned Out -- I have been reading Nehemiah… and I see a lot of myself. Not in the great leader, mind you. I see myself in the destruction. Friends of Nehemiah described the ruined city as “in trouble,” with broken down gates and burned up walls. Nehemiah himself, in his middle-of-the-night inspection, discovered sections of wall so badly damaged he was unable to get through. All of us are trying to build something . A life. Significance. Purpose. And all of us have faced the frustration of dreams deferred and hope smashed… seemingly impassable barriers. We have felt overwhelmed by trouble, been broken by circumstances, and burned out by yet another fire we did not have the strength to put out.

I wonder what it was like to have made the trek with Nehemiah. Tens of thousands of enthusiastic, bright-eyed, optimists packed their belongings from the only home they remembered and set out to discover an idyllic homeland they had only heard about. I wonder how reality hit them. How close did they get before noticing how black the walls were? How quickly did their victory tune dwindle to silence when they saw that even the black stones were no longer built as high as they should be?

Brilliant Strategy -- The work of repairing the wall took in an area several miles around. To further complicate the process, the Israelites were, quite literally, surrounded by enemies. In answer, Nehemiah created two brilliant strategies. We read about the first in 4:16 -18 -- 16 From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor… Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other, 18 and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked.

Which do you think is a more accurate picture? Did A) half of the workers work and the other half stand guard? Or B) Did ALL of the people work with a weapon in one hand and supplies / tools in the other? You can see evidence for both scenarios in the verses above. Yet, I am hard-pressed to see the logic of somehow saying, “Both.” (So… half of the workers were standing guard with a weapon in one hand and a tool in the other? And the other half were working with a weapon and a tool also? Sounds confusing… and ineffective.) The closest realistic picture is probably that half of the people were standing guard while the other half worked – but even those who worked had their weapons at their side, at the ready.

Just for a minute, consider another picture. And consider how different our world would be if this were a “realistic picture.” What if those doing the work were so powerfully connected and so bonded to one another as “one body” (See Rom. 12, 1 Cor. 10-12 , Eph. 2 and 4 , Col. 3 , etc…) that they thought of the “other half” as their “other hand” ? What if those doing the work considered those standing guard as so trustworthy and capable that it would be as if the workers were using their own hands to fight (even though it was the guards' hands?) What if they trusted one another? What if they knew that when they called for help, the others would be as quick and sure as if they were using their own hands? What if we could rely on each other with such confidence? What if every time one of us gathered the resolve to send out the distress call we did so with complete confidence that we would receive all the help we needed from those around us? Is there anyone in your “orbit” that you can depend on like that? Most importantly, can others depend on you ?

Brilliant Strategy -- The second strategy is related. Nehemiah 4:18-20 -- But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. 19 Then I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "The work is extensive and spread out, and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, join us there. Our God will fight for us!"

This is not just God's plan for rebuilding Jerusalem. It is His plan for rebuilding all of us bombed out walls, all of us who are working hard but harassed by various enemies. Eccl. 4:9-10 says, 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! And this is the problem. Though we are supposed to rally to the trumpet call, too often the plan becomes more like one of these options:

We are afraid and embarrassed to blow the trumpet and admit we need help. We put on a holy face, grit our teeth behind a plastic smile, and claim everything is okay. Meanwhile, the enemy is absolutely demolishing our part of the wall. This is foolish and more destructive than we know. As many have warned, there is something poisonous in our spiritual atmosphere. A recent study revealed that 30 million people have changed their mind and determined there is no God. There is something horribly wrong. When virtually every sinful plague of society is at least ! as common in the church as outside it, we are “in trouble” and it is time to blow the trumpet.
The trumpet sounds and we run… in the opposite direction! We tell ourselves we do not know what to do and that our bumbling will only make things worse. We re-double our efforts on our little section of the wall, and ignore the heart of God declaring, 11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? ( Proverbs 24:12 .)
The trumpet sounds and we all come together – but we gather away from the trumpet blower and talk about it. “Isn't it sad?” we whisper. “Someone really ought to do something…”

God's plan through Nehemiah depends on “sounding the trumpets,” in other words, calling for help. Even the hardest heart, I believe, recognizes when something is amiss. We get into the most serious trouble when we allow ourselves to be deceived or, more accurately, choose to ignore the warning bells all around us. Or, when we cry out but hear no response from those around us… those who are charged with this sacred task.

All around us, right now, people are throwing out warning signals. They are crying for help from behind blackened walls of divorce and heartache, mundane religion and preoccupied lives. And whether they actually “sound the trumpet” or not is irrelevant. We must rally to their aid. Otherwise, this whole wall is coming down.

When Nehemiah and the people worked together… when they fought for another (instead of with one another) the results were miraculous. Nehemiah 6:15-16 -- 15 So the wall was completed… in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.

A shorter version Walk WITH Jesus is actually published weekly , via e-mail.

If you believe this letter would benefit others, feel free to forward it along / post it to message boards / etc and encourage others to subscribe, please include proper credits.

Jim grew up – and sometimes still longs for – the suburbs of Kansas City, but now has the privilege of serving as the pastor of a rural Midwestern church. He and his wonderful, beautiful, multi-talented wife, Deanna, have two children still with them and one “Punkin Seed” waiting for them in Heaven; she “went to see her other Daddy” at the age of 5 ½ months. Jim is thrilled, humbled, and grateful for the opportunity to write for this magazine.

At this writing , Jim is thrilled that he can watch baseball on television again… but wishes he wouldn't obsess over his fantasy team so much.