Rebuild

I experienced a devastating situation a couple of years ago that brought me to my knees and sucked every ounce of faith I had out of me. I received a phone call that a car had fallen on top of my brother. What? What was I going to do? How could I make it through this? Honestly, it probably was the first time in my life that I faced depression head-on. There were some days when I did not desire to get up and be productive. There were some days when I wanted to put my phone on silent and ignore the whole world. I was one thought from dropping out of college and one pen stroke from resigning from everything I was involved in. My brother was in a nursing home for the next four years of his life. After every nursing home visit, I struggled with life. I could not understand why a young man in his mid-twenties would have to live in a nursing home. When the accident happened, it brought up old hurts that I was holding in, like the deaths of my parents. Simultaneously, I was dealing with a bad doctors' report about my son. To make matters worse, I learned that my brother would never walk again. I lost it. Needless to say, I became depressed. Yes, I believe in God. Yes, I pray. But I still fell into depression. I needed help. I needed answers. Instead of blaming God for the situation, I did what I thought was best: opened the Bible for answers. As I sat on my couch, with tears pouring down my face, I slowly picked up the Bible --with much hesitation --and the pages landed on a story about a man named Nehemiah, who in 52 days rebuilt a wall that should have taken years to rebuild. Nothing short of a miracle. According to archaeological records, this wall covered at least 30 acres and lay in ruins for some 70 years. Because of the size, length, and severe damage done to the wall, it should not have been rebuilt in 52 days but Nehemiah assembled a team and did it. To that end, I was eager to learn how he did it. I found some amazing principles that I will be unfolding in the next few hours or days I have with you, such as laying a strong foundation, seeing the vision, drafting a few, examining yourself, expecting opposition, identifying your why, and not stopping. Now, your life may not change in 52 days, but you will see change if you stay consistent. All you need is motivation and determination. Motivation to start. Determination to finish. One thing that you may find surprising as you read this book is that I am not asking you to find new material to rebuild the area that is bringing you nightmares. In some cases, I am asking you to use the materials that are before you, materials that you thought could not be used. Remember: The miracle may be in your hands. That is, the answer you need may already be in your possession. Do you think Nehemiah rebuilt the city walls of Jerusalem with new material? He may have used some, but mostly he used what was already there. In truth, Nehemiah already had the gifts to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem inside him but it took a bad report from his brother to wake them up. We have the wrong perception as it pertains to a setback. We view it as an opportunity for failure. God views a setback as an opportunity for you to see the greatness inside of you. I believe God has given gifts to all of us to use. Gifts that can bring a future that we could not imagine or think of. Gifts that can help us rebuild through dark times. There is nothing special about Nehemiah's life. He started at the bottom. But he had the faith to rebuild and it changed his life forever. And I believe the same can happen to you. Are you ready to rebuild? Are you ready to get out of that rut? Let's rebuild.