Surprise, surprise! God wins another battle. In this final part of my five part series on Nehemiah, we will take a look at what led to his success in restoring dignity for God's people.

It was a bad day for Israel in 605 B.C. when Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem. This happened twice more over the next several years. Judah's most prominent, intelligent, and powerful were hauled into exile in Babylon (modern-day Iraq). But after about 150 years, Nehemiah came on the scene. He was serving as the cupbearer to the new world power, King Artaxerxes of Susa (modern-day Iran).

Nehemiah received the news that Jerusalem, the centerpiece of Jewish pride lay in ruin, with its walls torn down and gates burned. He sat down, wept, mourned and fasted for days, prayed, then approached the king to get permission to go back to his homeland to rebuild the wall and gates, and restore dignity to the Jewish people.

Let's read. "So the wall was completed on the 25th of Elul, in 52 days. When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God." (Neh. 6:15-16)

Isn't it amazing that the nation of Israel made the same mistakes over and over, and then in the end it was always the same thing that rescued them from their consequences? Sounds familiar, doesn't it? I mean, it had been 150 years since the Jews were exiled into Babylon. God delivered them into the hands of the enemy because of their disobedience. And even though by Nehemiah's time many Jews had already been allowed to return home, damage to the Jerusalem wall and gates had already been done. The once great city lay in ruin and disgrace.

But as with any great challenge or obstacle, it often only takes one person to start a cycle of encouragement that results in a complete turnaround. That was the case for Nehemiah. That's also the case for us. We often simply need to be reminded of where we need to turn to find answers to life's problems. But it has to start with somebody who is willing to stand up for God.

The month of Elul referred to in the above passage is the sixth month of the Jewish religious calendar. This comes to mind as I write this article in the month of June. For Jews, Elul is known as the month of repentance, divine mercy, and forgiveness since there are no festivals or feast days during Elul. For Christians, repentance, recognition of God's mercy, and thankfulness of God's forgiveness and forgiving others should be part of our daily life.

May God bless our homes and community as we strive to have the courage of Nehemiah in seeking God's help to encourage others to make a difference where it counts.

Reach Barrett Vanlandingham at Fort Gibson Church of Christ, 478-2222 or ftgcoc_barrett@sbcglobal.net.