Yesterday, at New Passion, we talked about allowing God to use our passions in the midst of his mission.
We looked at Nehemiah’s passion for his people and how that passion led him to be about God’s mission of repairing the wall around Jerusalem. I found two things particularly interesting in my study of Nehemiah. The first was that he received the bad news about Israel’s troubles in the month of Kislev. Nehemiah 1:4-5 shows us that Nehemiah was so passionate about his people that he mourned, fasted, and prayed to God. He began his prayer by delighting in God…this was a process of about 4 months until the month of Nisan, when he was able to make his request to rebuild the wall to the king (Chapter 2).
I find it interesting that Nehemiah spends his time delighting in God during the month of Kislev. This is known as the “Month of Dreams” – During this time, the Jews would study the portion of the Torah that covered all of the dreams of God’s men (I.E. Joseph). Isn’t it interesting when the king asked Nehemiah how he could help him, Nehemiah already had a plan? (2:4-5) I believe that Nehemiah spent this period known as the “Month of Dreams” to delight himself in God in order to dream about what God would have him do to solve the problem. They understood that when they fully trusted God, no dream was too big for him to accomplish. The month of Nisan (when Nehemiah made his request to the king) is known as the period when the “Barley is ripe” – It is a Spring month, a production month.
I believe Nehemiah had a season where he dreamed big dreams of how God could use him to help Israel, he delighted himself in God, because he knew it was God who would have to provide the resources, the people, and the power to fulfill the dream. However, there came a time where he had to act. He took a risk, even sacrificed personally, in order to fulfill the dream that he was so passionate about. Nehemiah said to the King, “Send Me to Judah.” I believe that God wants us all to be dreamers. He wants us all to recognize that he has filled our hearts with passion and he wants to use that passion to fulfill his mission. However, we have to come to a place in our life where we are productive. We have to act on the dreams God gives us.
Join the Conversation…What do you dream about? What are you doing about it?
Nick, I so needed to read this to spur back the sparks of my dream that God so desires for me! Being in, not of this world, sometimes dampens the brightness of the dream that God planted in my heart. More than anything in this world, I want to dream! Dream HUGE like God intends me to dream! I want to step out of that stagnant place of complacency to walk in the fullness of that awesome dream! I want to walk in the fullness of His grace while I wait for Him to show me what actions I need to take! Thank you Nick! Your words pricked my heart & made me see things in a new light!