When God Calls You to Face the Ruins Honestly
Nehemiah 2:11–16
Before Nehemiah ever inspired a city to rise and build, he spent nights alone walking through the rubble. After a gruelling journey to Jerusalem, he rested three days — not out of laziness but wisdom. Fatigue clouds judgment, and God often shapes leaders in hidden spaces before He uses them in public ones.
Then Nehemiah slips out under the cover of night. No crowds. No fanfare. No speeches. Just a man, a burden, a vision “God had put into my heart,” and the cold, broken stones of a devastated city.
Why secrecy? Because premature publicity creates hype without substance. Because passion without direction burns hot and fizzles fast. Because sometimes God calls leaders to confront reality alone before they can lead others through it.
Nehemiah inspects every gate, every charred beam, every collapsed wall. The destruction is so extensive he must dismount and climb through rubble on foot. It’s slow. Painful. Dirty. Necessary.
Good leadership always begins with honest diagnosis. You can’t rebuild what you won’t face.
We often avoid this step. It’s easier to ignore the broken places — a strained marriage, a hurting child, a spiritually dry heart, a struggling ministry. But Nehemiah shows us something essential: before God rebuilds, He reveals. Before He restores, He helps us see clearly.
Is there an area of your life you’ve avoided examining? A situation you’ve looked at only from a distance? Take a night ride with God. Walk through the ruins. Name what is broken. Feel the weight of reality — and the hope beneath it.
Because the rubble you fear to face is the very place where God is preparing to build again.