Be Prepared for Life

I was a Boy Scout.  Our motto was "Be Prepared."  A good Boy Scout is always prepared for whatever circumstances may come.  I remember taking a college Calculus exam for which I was ill prepared.  I remember looking at the first problem on the exam and thinking, "I haven't the slightest idea how to solve this."  Not only did I not know how to solve the problem ... I didn't even know how to start.  I turned the page and looked at the next problem.  It looked like Chinese to me (I'd say Greek, except that I can read Greek ... I don't read or speak Chinese).  That's when beads of sweat started forming on my forehad and I knew that I was in BIG trouble.  I failed that test.  I failed because I wasn't prepared.  I never said I was a good Boy Scout.

The Bible is filled with exhortations to be prepared. From the time that Noah was called to prepare an ark, God has been calling men and women to prepare.  Life goes smoother when you are prepared.  The flip side is that life can turn ugly (even tragic) when you are not prepared. This is a hard and true lesson that I have to keep learning every day of my life.

Nehemiah enters Jerusalem, possibly for the first time in his life.  He is in the city of his forefathers. He is there to rebuild and repopulate the city.  He is on a mission for God.  He is also entering a political nightmare.  He has been appointed Govenor of an area that is filled with political landmines.  He has to build a walled city with a group of people who have already failed countless times over a 100 year period.  That means that they have failed, their fathers failed, and their grandfathers failed.  Failure is built into their DNA.  He has to take this motley crew and inspire them to success in the face of harsh and sometimes violent opposition.  Add to that a King who is ready to execute him at any hint of disloyalty. There are plenty who want Nehemiah to fail.

The book of Nehemiah is the account of how Nehemiah succeeded where everyone before him had failed.  It is the story of what God can do with someone who doesn't care who gets the credit.  It is a tale of a life.  Life lived to the fullest with a God who is in control.  It is about being more prepared than your enemies, and outrunning, outlasting, and outliving your adversity. 

The characteristics we see in Nehemiah are critical:
1. He is strategic.
2. He is brutallly honest.
3. He is empowering.
4. He is highly commited.

These are foundational to living the prepared life.  At the heart of it is a person who sees his life as an offering to God.  Nehemiah sees himself as being on mission for God.  The King sent Nehemiah to build another Persian fortified city.  Nehemiah went to build the city of God.  God will use whom he will use.  Our work is to be prepared.
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