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I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair...
Nehemiah 13:25a (NIV)

Across my life journey, I’ve experienced seasons of revival at different waypoints in life’s road. There were specific moments in time when I witnessed many people putting their faith in Jesus and becoming followers in a short period of time. In some cases, many of those who became followers were the last people I would have expected to do so.

In each of these seasons, I observed individuals who became faithful disciples. I also observed individuals whose spiritual experience appeared to have only short-term effect. At the same time, I’ve lived long enough of this life journey to have experienced that every individual has their own story regarding their relationship (or lack of relationship) with God. Sometimes an individuals journey waxes and wanes. With others, I’ve experienced zero interest of faith until their death bed. And yes, I’ve witnessed very real, very sincere death-bed conversions.

There is a similar observation I’ve had regarding church programs designed to “create” community through small groups, many of which I played a significant role. There’s a recurring pattern I’ve noticed. Initial hype and interest. Large kick-off event and great participation followed by months of slow waning interest. A few small groups continue to do life together long after the “program” fades into oblivion. Most never make it more than a short season.

These things came to mind as I read today’s final chapter of Nehemiah. Nehemiah’s story ends on a downer. After the miraculous rebuilding of the walls in less than two months and the joyful climactic celebration that kick-started Temple operations for the first time in 150 years, things quickly return to spiritual complacency. The “revival” event in yesterday’s chapter is immediately followed by people going back to doing what they’ve always done. They don’t make a habit of going to Temple and giving their tithes and offering. With no tithes and offerings to provide for all the priests and Levites, they leave the Temple and go back to their fields. Nehemiah finds that the Hebrews pretty much ignore every commitment they made to God’s covenant just a few chapters ago.

Nehemiah goes full-prophet postal screaming, beating, and condemning his people for their lack of faithfulness.

Been there. Done that.

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded that history tells me the rest of the story. Despite Nehemiah experiencing what seems like the failure of his revival event, the Temple system he restored will actually take off. The “second temple” period he’s begun will become one of the most profitable periods of Jewish history with regard to scholarship, scripture, and literature. Of course, that will eventually wane too. When Jesus arrives on the scene some 500 years later, the Temple system will be thriving but completely corrupt. Forty-years after Jesus death and resurrection, it will be completely wiped out by the Romans.

This leads me back to my observations across my life journey. Like Nehemiah, it’s easy to get caught up in moments and seasons on life’s road. Revivals are exciting, and I’m blessed to have experienced them. Events, however, are moments. The spiritual journey is not an event but an epic story complete with mountain-top climaxes and long wilderness wanderings. There is a spiritual waxing and waning that most people experience across their lives. There are tragic moments when everything seems dark and hopeless, and moments of eucatastrophe when the miraculous breaks through and everything is right with the world. It’s all of it.

I love Nehemiah’s passionate, prophetic heart. But as he screams at his people and attempts to beat them into repentance and obedience, my heart whispers: “Dude! Chill out. There’s a Story God is authoring in all of this. Trust the Story.”

I’m out the rest of the week. We’ll pick-up our chapter-a-day journey on Monday with the book of Hebrews!

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them. 1 Chronicles 10:7 (NIV)

My daughter, Taylor, and I had a Father’s Day date this past Sunday afternoon. We spent an hour and a half talking and catching up over a bite, a beer, and some ice cream. As we stood in line for ice cream we talked about the pain and confusion many people experience on Father’s Day and Mother’s Day. Taylor has been working for a non-profit art program that works with juveniles who are in the court system. She has many kids she works with who have never known a father figure of any kind. Some kids, she shared, have a birth mother, step mother, and foster mother and not one of them wants anything to do with the child. I tried to imagine how confusing it must be for these kids to imagine celebrating a mother or father.

Along my life journey I’ve noticed that there are certain themes which emerge in my thinking and writing during particular seasons and stretches. When I read a chapter each day there are nuggets in the text that resonate with me because of the things on which my brain has been ruminating. So it was this morning when I stumbled upon the verse above. Left without a leader, the entire social system of the Israelites fell apart. Without a leader who could organize and rally them, the army fled and left the people in the villages vulnerable. Without anyone to defend them, the villagers fled their homes and town for fear of being killed by the enemy. The enemy took over the abandoned towns as the villagers scattered across the land seeking safety and shelter. It sounds like chaos.

With that mental picture in mind, I thought of the kids with whom Taylor is working and the parallel between the two systems. The reality is that when a family is left without a strong leader who can organize and rally its members, a family system breaks down into chaos and leave the weakest members vulnerable. The entire system and each individual in it is open to occupation by negative forces and is threatened by isolation, fear, and the primal need for survival.

This morning, in the quiet, my mind continues to contemplate the theme of parents, children, and family systems. Perhaps its the combination of celebrating Mother’s Day and Father’s Day over the past several weeks. Perhaps it’s the transition we’ve made in recent years to having independent, adult children or the experience of entering back into living with and leading a teenager. Whatever the reason, this morning I’m again grateful for the strong leadership of my parents throughout the journey and I’m motivated to be a strong leader for my family system even though that role and its responsibilities change drastically over time.