Break the Cycle

The book of Nehemiah hits with a surprisingly strong undercut.

At first, it seems that you are simply reading a narrative about a man with a passion for rebuilding a wall to his ancestral land. But once you really start to dive in, you begin to notice that it is so much more than that.

It is about a spiritual revival among the people.

As the wall was being restored, so were the hearts and minds of the people. Many even came out of exile and were reunited with their ancestral land - the land of their God!

For most of the book, things are so jovial and refreshing to read. After all, most of the Old Testament seems to be about the Israelites constantly messing up, and so here, the restoration and dedication of the people warms the heart. Even through the adversity that Nehemiah faced, the Israelites came together in faith and unity. What a beautiful story!

And then comes the end…

Nehemiah returns to his post at the king's palace and he is gone for a short time and then returns to find Jerusalem a total mess - vows broken, sanctity defiled, and corruption.

Nehemiah gets so mad, he even starts pulling people’s hair out, literally!

“I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said, 'You must not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters as wolves for your sons or yourselves!'” - Nehemiah 13:25

So what happened? Just one chapter before all was well and restored! How did they fall again so quickly?

These were the questions I began to ask myself, when it hit me.

I am the Israelites in this story.

How many times do I get revived by the Lord and get on fire for Him and then fall off the bandwagon only to slip back into my old habits?

How many times do we see people in the church re-dedicate their lives and then a few months later, wonder what happened? Did they really get a touch from the Lord?

There's a cycle that we see in Nehemiah:

Reviving of the spirit > Renewal > Emotion and accountability fades > Drift > Repeat

This points to a need for Jesus. They couldn’t do it on their own. They needed the power that Jesus provided through the cross.

Then why, even when we have Jesus and the power provided to us from the cross, do we still repeat the same cycle as the Israelites without Him?

It’s simple. We aren’t using that power!

We have to remember that we were called to be steadfast and consistent in our walk.  

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” - 1 Corinthians 15:58

Holy Spirit empowers us to do this when we seek him and do our part as well.

“Let us not get tired of doing good, for we will reap at the proper time if we don’t give up.” - Galatians 6:9

Call on Holy Spirit for that empowerment and He will strengthen you, for we must realize that it is only through His empowerment that we can have that consistency. The moment we forget and rely on ourselves is the moment we fall back into our drift cycle.

When we feel the emotion fade and the spiritual motivation waning, call on Him: “Holy Spirit, help me stay consistent. Empower me.” Then fully surrender that lack of motivation to Him and watch Him work.

That is plugging into your power source when your spiritual battery is running low.

And remember, Romans 6:1-7 paraphrases to this: Through Christ, we have freedom from sin!