The Jesse Tree: Day 18

Imagine walking into a home and seeing holes in the drywall, a front door hanging by one hinge, and a Ring camera that is clearly not connected to anything…That’s the feeling Nehemiah had when he heard the report from Jerusalem. God’s people had returned, but the walls were rubble. The gates were charred. The city that once proudly declared God’s glory now groaned in vulnerability.

Nehemiah sat down and wept. He let himself feel it. In a world that rewards quick fixes and faster responses, Nehemiah shows us a different rhythm. He sat. He wept. He mourned. He fasted. Then he prayed. Henri Nouwen once said that “sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.” It’s important for us to stop and sit long enough to remember we aren’t in control.

Nehemiah’s prayer was soaked in the humility of knowing he was not in control. He approached God not as a valet but as the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love. Nehemiah confessed not only his sin but the sins of his fathers and of the whole nation. It is countercultural to name corporate sin without distancing yourself from it, yet Nehemiah owns it all. Lord, you are faithful even though we are fickle.

But humility does not cancel confidence. Nehemiah prays with bold trust. He asks God to remember His promises, not because God forgets, but because biblical remembering is a plea to act. Nehemiah cries out, Lord, restore us because you have said you would gather us from the farthest places when we return to You. His assurance is anchored not in his ability but in God’s word.

And then there is dependence. Nehemiah walks into the throne room of Artaxerxes, the man who ruled the known world, and asks for time off and lumber to rebuild a city that held no strategic value for Persia. Yet Scripture says the king granted all he asked because the gracious hand of God was upon him. The success was never Nehemiah’s. It was God’s.

By chapter 6, the wall is rebuilt in fifty-two days, a miracle so astonishing that even Israel’s enemies had to admit it was God’s work. And by chapter 8, the very people who once forgot God now stand to hear His word again. The wall that once symbolized shame is now a sign of restoration.

Advent invites us into this story. We live with broken walls, too. The world aches. Our hearts ache. And yet a Savior is coming who rebuilds what sin has torn down. Jesus steps into our ruins, gathers exiles home, and establishes a kingdom with walls no enemy can tear down.