............You know full well the tragedy of our city. It lies in ruins and its gates are burned . Let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and rid ourselves of this disgrace."
Nehemiah 2:17
Walls were the pride of a city back in the time of Nehemiah. They reflected the prosperity and protection of that city to all who traveled or lived there. There was safety behind the walls and you didn't have to live in fear of your enemies. At this point in the book of Nehemiah, the walls of Jerusalem have been destroyed. Great breaches have been carved out in the walls, which allowed their enemies access to the wealth of Jerusalem. The gates of the city had been burned and torn down so that there was no stopping whoever wanted to enter. It was a dark and dismal time. But God spoke to man, Nehemiah, and gave him the command to go back and rebuild the walls and gates. Nehemiah was a slave.
I like this particular book, and it relates well to recovery and the Twelve steps. God spoke to Nehemiah in the middle of his being a slave. Away from family and friends, Nehemiah was given a mandate to do the seemingly impossible.....rebuild the walls.
The mandate to pursue rebuilding our lives from the destruction of drugs and alcohol always begins right in the middle of all the turmoil and spiritual darkness. We have a million reasons why we can't do this....but God has one as to why we can. He has called us.
Like Jerusalem, the walls of protection around our lives have been torn down. WE have opened ourselves up to the enemy...a.k.a the Devil...and he takes full advantage of it. Coming and going as he pleases, he loots and ransacks our life and leaves us broken, bleeding and helpless. What do we do? We seek only to get high to stop the pain. The pain may stop, but the madness continues. God has provided a Power (Jesus) and a plan (Scripture and Twelve Steps) to help us recover.
For Nehemiah, it wasn't an easy task. It seemed that everyone was against him. He had a group of people that sought to stop him at every turn. It got so bad that Nehemiah had to work with tools in one hand and a sword in the other to ward off the attacks. There were accusations against Nehemiah and the work he was doing. There
Recovery is no easy task either. Notice I said it wasn't easy...I never said it was impossible. It requires that you surround yourself with other people who are rebuilding walls and gates.
It requries commitment. I've heard it said that there only two times when you should go to a meeting (A.A. or C.R.) 1.) When you want to...and (2) when you don't want to.
When we set out to take this new journey of recovery, we will face the pain and suffering of our past. We will need the "joy of the Lord" to give us strength. This joy comes from recognizing, even celebrating God's ability to bring us out of bondage and care for us as we pass through the sadness toward a new way of life. (Life Recovery Bible...page 595)
let's rebuild....
let's rebuild today.....
God on you....
mb
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