The Good Life

Nothing will knock me off the center of my life’s center of gravity like an interruption to my well-laid plans. It doesn’t matter if it is a long-term or short-term plan change. It takes me some time to regroup and wrap my brain around it. I am a planner by nature. I make lists, and while crossing items off, I add new things at the bottom. Ever notice how plans begat plans? If you ask me how this has worked out, my answer is ambivalent. While I certainly have been pretty productive, for the most part, I have had to face spiritual heart surgery several times over to follow through with what God has called and led me to. In simple terms, I have often had difficulty changing my plan and getting on board with the one God has. Primarily this is founded on unbelief. Frequently my foolish human mind and flesh cling to the secret belief that what I have planned is better, will bring me more happiness, be far more comfortable etc., etc. The first problem with this is that this is biblically and categorically untrue. Only God, who is all-loving, all-just, and all-knowing, only has good plans for me that will ultimately utterly fulfill me while His plans and purposes in this world are executed. While I may think I know what a good life is, God, KNOWS because He is the creator of life and the author of all that is all good. So when He seemingly interrupts my plans, I have learned it will be far better for my good and a testimony of how great He is to His people.

If I look back through( dare I say?)a post-pandemic lens, it isn’t hard to spot all the places the good life took a hit. Rebuilding daily life has been a major reconstruction project for most of us. Plans for moves, job changes, marriages, births, deaths, and funerals were altered or impacted. Our financial plans look nothing like they once did before the dreaded virus, and who among us planned to pay almost five bucks a gallon for gas or bring home one bag of groceries that could cost upward of 50$? All social plans have a backdoor clause now that holds the unspoken reminder, “If no one is sick.” How we worshipped, gathered, and even how we gave changed. At the same time, we share nostalgically about how things used to be and all we took for granted. So with this all in my heart, I realized I have been struggling with reconstructing my life. Jim and I are both adjusting to being retired and belonging to a new church family. I believe this is why the Lord led me to one of my favorite Biblical heroes, Nehemiah. It has been good for me to be reminded how someone living the good life can undergo reconstruction and, with God leading and guiding, can move ahead even though the plan has changed.

Nehemiah was in what we would call midlife, 40ish and pretty comfortable. Though he was a Jew, born in captivity, he rose to the top of the Persian government and served as the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes. In our language, this would be a cabinet job. Because the threat of assassination was always prevalent, Nehemiah guarded the KIngs’ cup against poison and often was called on to pour and drink the wine before the King to assure the monarch’s safety. It was a well-paid position with good benefits like palatial living and access to royal conditions. I am sure his thread count on sheets was high! It also exposed Nehemiah to the intimate company of the King, which lent itself to a relationship of mutual respect and trust. Though not born in his homeland, like every good first-generation immigrant, Nehemiah’s love for his country, His people, and His God were apparent as you read about his experience.

While Nehemiah is living the “good life, ” a visitor comes to the summer palace where he lives and works. The visitor shares the news of the state of Jerusalem and the exiles who have returned to the province. By this time, Ezra had been there about 12 years and rebuilt the temple and helped re-establish the true worship of Jehovah, the one true God. Ezra had his work cut out for him, leading the people away from the Babylonian culture of idolatry that had been absorbed through the 70 years of captivity and integrated deeply into Israelite culture. Though this reconstruction phase had begun, the wall surrounding the city was still in rubble and disrepair. The gates burned, and the city remained vulnerable to enemies, This burdened the heart of Nehemiah deeply, and his first step was a great lesson in successful reconstruction – Nehemiah prayed.

Often while living out my plans and enjoying the fruits of my good life, it is easy for me to become callous to the plight of others which is also the concern of God, for He loves people more than anything. God loves people more than rules, more than religion, more than sacrament or sacrifice, more than the list of my plans and programs. So if I want to be in on His plans, it will at some point involve people and prayer, not just my plans. Nehemiah takes intercessory prayer seriously. It says he wept and fasted at length(many days) for his fellow countrymen. Through Nehemiah was disturbed about the state of disrepair, his heart was broken for the people. A few years ago, I began fasting from the media and watched very little news.

Some have criticized me for not wanting to know what is happening. While I believe there is some merit to being in the know, I also began to realize I was getting calloused to the plight of folks. How many mass shootings do I see and ask how many without stopping and praying earnestly for those who face tragedy. I watch commercials about starving children while snacking while surfing Amazon for purchases; I watch homelessness. And change channels. These behaviors are not immoral, but if I am no longer moved by the state of disrepair my world, my country, and my neighbor is in, then the first thing that needs reconstruction is my heart. For me, I find underneath all my pursuits of the good life is a sense of entitlement. After all, I have worked hard, been a good person, been chosen by God as His own., etc. Nehemiah shows that despite the cushy spot where he has landed, he has maintained a sense of priorities. Nehemiah, through prayer, progressively opens His life to a great God who will use it for reconstruction. Who knew that a government worker interrupted while on the job could be used by God to impact history in such a fantastic way? I ask myself whether Neheimaih called his accountant. Did he check His retirement and 401 k to see if he could afford God’s plan? It says he prayed. God can use the brokenness of others to prepare my heart for reconstruction. He can use the burden to call me to time with Him in prayer where He has solutions to problems and plans I can’t even fathom.

We know from the scriptures that Nehemiah moves forward with God and His plan and trades his robes for overalls. Nehemiah leaves the good life behind for a great purpose. While I whine and adjust to aging, fixed incomes that seem more broken, while I long for life the way it used to be(mostly), do I believe that God wants my life to be a testimony of rubble and remain in a state of disrepair? Or do I want Him to convert my inertia to energy to help me reconstruct a new, better daily existence? Where symbolically I may be surrounded by enemies like fear and insecurity but realize God has a wall of protection around me where he is ever the night watchman? If ever you have participated in a reconstruction project, you know it will be messy and hard, but the effort always pays off. I serve a God who invites me into His reconstruction, supplies the resources, has the best plans in place even before we start, gives me the strength to participate, assures a great outcome, and, yes, even helps me clean up the messes I make. Today it is good to be reminded how my plans pale compared to His purposes.

Lord, thank you that your word records real live accounts of folks like Nehemiah that I can learn from. Change me, Lord, like Nehemiah was changed. I need to be changed, not just stirred. Help me not become so consumed with pursuing and enjoying the “good life” that I omit your priorities from my plans. Jesus, thank you that you are with me in the midst of this project called life.

I have missed being in the vineyard but needed to undergo a little rest and reconstruction myself. Come back next time where the 5 o’clock worker looks at the powerful role confession plays in the reconstruction process as the series on Nehemiah continues, next time is “Demo Day!”.

Nehemiah was a good guy., moral, and a layperson. He wasn’t a priest like Ezra or a prophet like Malichi.