“Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this!
For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God”
~ Nehemiah | Nehemiah 8:9 (NLT)/em>

A Broken Record

When I was a kid back in the early 70’s, a local radio station in “celebration” of the station going off the air, decided to play the same song over and over again. Twenty-four hours later the song droned on. I’m super glad that I don’t remember what that song was…it would still haunt me. The good news was that this was radio….all I needed to do was switch the station…easy!

I’m sure you’ve had a song, often one you really don’t like that much, get stuck in your head… switching it off is a much bigger challenge, right? The more you try to get your mind off it, the more it plays. It’ll drive you nuts!

We’ve had such a song playing in our lives over a year now and it has worn most of us thin. COVID. Ugh! The cloud of fear, controversy and division has been overwhelming. It does not take long to see the anger that results from this song playing day in/day out. A broken record of doom. We all have our unique version playing in our minds. Can you hear the words? Is it a song of fear? Anger? Deception? Grief? Where is this song taking you?

Commit to a Song of Hope

The Israelites fell into a repeating song of doom, perhaps much like the song that plays in your mind. Nearly 150 years after Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians, its walls remained in ruins. Most of the Israelites had settled in other lands, and those in Jerusalem had forgotten who they were. A song of worthlessness, disgrace, failure, fear and doubt had settled in.

“Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
Nehemiah 1:3 (NLT)

Stuck in their heads, this song had taken hold of their future. Hopeless. What would have happened if the Lord had not lifted up Nehemiah to bring a new song?

Yet, in just 52 days Jerusalem was transformed thanks to one man, Nehemiah, who committed to a song of hope. Transformation does not take long; it just needs to be started.

Lifted from Disgrace

It’s interesting to observe Nehemiah. He didn’t spend any time trying to convince people not to think about how they got into their mess. They needed no reminder for they had dwelled on it for years. No, he was 100% focused on the vision of where Jerusalem was headed.

They say if you’re trying to lose weight, don’t tell yourself not to eat chocolate. Ironically, this raises your desire for it. Instead, the wisdom is to focus on the good foods to eat. Ahead of the times, Nehemiah was a true renaissance man!

It would seem natural to convince ourselves not to think about COVID any longer, to hit the re-set button to restore life to pre-COVID days, thinking “If we could just cut COVID out, life will be good again!” Face it, we are never going back to pre-COVID life. Nehemiah did not restore Jerusalem’s walls to their original form either. In fact, the walls were not really his primary concern. He orchestrated an amazing transformation of the Jews themselves, rebuilding their pride, lifting them from a mindset of disgrace. He restored their hope. Better than any wall… Walls are temporary, hope is eternal!

God Sized Hope

What do you hope for… Open restaurants? No masks? No vaccines? Better economy? Think of these as Jerusalem’s walls. Good, but temporary and not God sized.

“During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever.”
The Prophet Daniel | Daniel 2:44 (NLT)

Our new songs can be too small, short sighted, worldly. The reality is that economies go up and down and new viruses will come and go. If the songs you play in your head are not God sized, they’ll be easily crushed and you’ll find yourself playing a broken record of doom again.

This is a time to sing a big and bold new song, a time to set your hopes on the things you are crying for from deep within your soul: Peace, freedom, unconditional love, intimacy, untainted beauty. The things God will bring when he sets the heavenly Jerusalem in place. This is indeed a great God sized song of hope!

What new song will you sing? It will come to you as you live out the adventure God Made You For. Find out how by taking our free Mini-Course at https://www.missioncurve.com/  These 3 steps will change your life, guaranteed.

Let’s talk.