Posted by As you can see, this series that I intended to last for one month has gone past that. This is a tendency of mine and it’s how I was able to stretch 31 Proverbs into a 40 day devotional. So, because we still have half of the book to get through, our Nehemiah series is going to extend into August. Let’s see what the Lord teaches us in the last half of this amazing book!
“So the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty-two days.” Nehemiah 6:15 (ESV)
Nehemiah and his merry band of builders worked diligently for almost two months and were able to rebuild the wall—what an incredible feat! I’m amazed that they were able to do all of that in that short amount of time. If you’ve ever tried to build something or remodel a house, you know just how difficult a task that is.
I wonder how long Nehemiah thought this was going to take when he originally set out on this project. Did he think it was going to be faster than this? Did he imagine this dragging on for months and months? Could it have been completed more quickly if they hadn’t hit all the roadblocks they did? Or was it completely ahead of schedule because of the sheer number of people who helped?
I don’t know about you, but I often struggle to pace myself. I will get an idea, feel sure it’s from God, and will just go barrelling forward as fast as I can. I will somehow talk myself into this idea that it has to be done and it has to be done now. I tend to think of my projects as sprints instead of marathons.
But this life that we lead, while short, is a marathon and not a sprint.
And we need to pace ourselves according to the season that we’re in.
If we’re in a building season, we’re likely going to have to put in long hours, late nights, and a lot of effort.
If we’re in a resting season, we’re going to have to be intentional to just be instead of doing, doing, and doing some more.
I feel like this season, for me, has been set aside for me to not work as much, but to focus on relationships and building community, something that I, quite honestly, haven’t done. Which has led to some immense frustration for me when things have not been going the way I want them to go. I’ve been praying about certain things I want to do and don’t feel an okay to go ahead with them. I’ve been pushing other things only to be blocked at every turn. I’ve been getting annoyed with God but, the truth is that I’ve been the one who’s been off. I haven’t been responding appropriately to the season.
Lately, I’ve been acutely aware of my pace and how out of sync it is with the Lord. Thankfully, he’s inviting me to come back with him and resume the pace that he’s at, not rushing ahead or dragging behind. My desire is to be in lockstep with him, because that’s the best place for me to be.
What season are you in right now?
Have you broken pace with the Lord?
To go Deeper: Read Learning to Lie Down, Transition is an Opportunity to Trust
Work in Progress 
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