that kind of a week too. When we have that experience,
it doesn't necessarily mean that we're doing
something wrong. Even when you are engaged in
God's vision for your life and you have pressed
out beyond your comfort zone and you're living
on the edge, you can become overwhelmed. For
example, that happened to the Apostle Paul in
Acts chapter 18. You read there about Paul going
to the city of Corinth and he's carrying out
the vision God had given him, his heavenly vision.
And so he's preaching the gospel to the Jew first
in the synagogue and they reject the message
and so he turns to the Gentiles. As a result
of Paul proclaiming Christ in the city of Corinth,
the people were being saved, even some of the
leaders of the very synagogue where he had begun
preaching. And then apparently something happened
and Paul was afraid. And it says there that Jesus
appeared to him in a vision. And basically what
Jesus said to him in the vision was, Paul, don't
be afraid. I am with you. Stay with the plan.
Keep on preaching. You see, even the apostle
Paul felt overwhelmed by something that happened
in his life as he was carrying out the vision.
One of the most encouraging aspects of living
on the edge is God's promise that you're never
going to be alone while you're doing that. Because
you see, God himself lives on the edge of your
comfort zone. If God somehow seems to be a little
distant to you, perhaps the question you ought
to ask yourself is, am I living on the edge or
am I back in the cushy chair of my comfort zone,
feeling safe about my life? The place where we
will find the greatest intimacy with God is out
there on the edge where we feel like we're risking
it. As God, rather, was with Paul and Nehemiah,
so the Lord is with you. And his gracious hand
is upon you. So don't be overwhelmed. Stay with
that task or that vision that God has given to
you. He is with you in it. He is with you in
it. To me, that's an amazing thought, this idea
that God is partnering with us in our lives.
And yet Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 3,
we are God's fellow workers. And he wrote of
his good friend Timothy as his brother and called
him God's fellow worker. God's fellow worker.
For his work in the world to bring the nations
to know him, God chooses to enter into a joint
venture with you. end with me. I like what the
Chaplain, or the recent Chaplain of the Senate,
Lloyd John Ogilvie said. Very simple statement,
but it sums it up. He says, without God, we can't.
Without us, He won't. That says it well. Without
God, we can't. Without us, He won't. Living on
the edge with your vision means dreaming of something
that only God can do, and then stepping out in
faith to work with him. What heaven -inspired
vision or task or purpose is percolating in your
heart this morning? Some God -sized dream that
he has placed there. What is it that is calling
for your very best? What are you dreaming about
that potentially risks the heaven provided resources
that you have? Your influence, your money, your
position, your abilities. Working on your God
-given task, you never work alone. You never
work alone. When you do what you can, God will
do the rest. I want you to notice the two parts
of that idea. When you do what you can, you have
a part. Then God will do the rest, God has a
part. For example, God told Noah to build the
boat. God didn't just zap a boat into existence.
He let Noah and his sons work for over a hundred
years to build this craft. But God brought the
animals and God shut the door to it. Noah did
his part then God did his part. I think of David
who saw Goliath challenging the armies of Israel
and felt that that was a terrible shame to Israel.
And so he went to defy Goliath, but notice that
he picked up some stones before he went out there.
He took his sling with him. It was God who killed
Goliath, but David had a part in it. He slung
a stone that was directed by God to the very
weak part of the helmet of Goliath, and he fell
dead. When you do what you can, God will do the
rest. A leader is someone who uses his God -given
role and resources to get God's work done. You
say, well, I'm not a leader. Oh, yes, you are.
In some place in your life, you are a leader.
Maybe you are the parent of some toddlers. You're
a leader. Maybe you're the CEO of a company.
You're a leader. Maybe you manage a group of
janitors, or you're a schoolteacher with children
in your room every day of the week. You are a
leader. A leader is someone who uses his God
-given role and resources to get God's work done.
To achieve it, God calls us to live on the edge,
and in doing that to forsake our security zone
so that we can experience Him. He lives on the
edge. These are some of the things we're learning
in our study of the book of Nehemiah. And today
we turn to chapter two, beginning in verse 11,
where we're going to think about living on the
edge with our responsibility. Now in the idea
we're dealing with this morning, I'm saying this.
You have a part, and God has a part, in this
vision. What is your part? What is your part?
It is to be responsible. Be responsible. Prayerfully
plan what you need to do to follow through with
what God has put on your heart. Think through
this opportunity or this problem or this task
that is the vision God has you focused on. For
Nehemiah, of course, that was the rebuilding
of the walls. of Jerusalem. That's where his
heart was. That was his God -assigned dream to
rebuild those walls. And what we see here in
the second chapter in particular, but also in
the first, is that Nehemiah took responsibility
for this vision. There is a common problem -solving
process that is called steps. It's a very flexible
process by which to deal with issues in your
life or problems or tasks that you have at hand.
It can be a complex problem. It can be a simple
task that you have. But here are some steps that
you can take to be responsible for what God has
given you to do. These steps are sometimes summarized
in other ways, but these are very common and
there are large corporations that use the very
steps that I'm going to share with you this morning.
The very first thing you need to do when you
have a task, when you have an opportunity or
a vision, is this. You need to do some situation
analysis. Situation analysis. What is happening
and why? In other words, what is the data surrounding
this? There's a professor in a law school in
Pennsylvania who for 20 years would begin the
first day of class every year by putting two
numbers on the board in front of him. The numbers
four and two. He would write it up there, four
and two. And he would turn to the freshman students
and he would say, now, What is the solution?
And there would be some students who would say,
it's two, it's two. Others would say, oh no,
no, it's six. Others would say, it's eight, that's
the solution. And the professor would then stop
them and say, students, the very first thing
you must do when confronted with something is
to find out what the problem is. You see, some
of them saw plus signs, some of them saw minus,
and some of them saw a multiplication sign. But
they didn't take time to understand what the
problem was. Don't try to solve a problem or
meet a need before you know what it is. Have
you ever tried to figure out a problem without
really understanding it? Well, of course, we've
all been there. Now, in Nehemiah's case, What
was the situation? Well, the returned exiles
are in great trouble and disgrace, as we saw
in chapter one, verse three. That's a reality.
That's some data for him. The wall of Jerusalem
is broken down. And the third piece of data is
its gates have been burned with fire. Now that
was the data, that was the situation, that was
what was happening. as much as Nehemiah understood,
and so he then traveled to Jerusalem. And here
in Nehemiah chapter two, verse 11 it says, I
went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three
days, I set out during the night with a few men.
I had not told anyone what my God had put in
my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts
with me except the one I was riding on. And so
he's telling us he's riding on a donkey or a
horse or something. He says, by night I went
out through the valley gate toward the jackal
well and the dung gate, examining the walls of
Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its
gates which had been destroyed by fire. Then
I moved on toward the fountain gate and the king's
pool, but there was not enough room for my mount
to get through. So I went up by the valley. up
the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally,
I turned back and reentered through the valley
gate. The officials did not know where I had
gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had
said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles
or officials or any others who would be doing
the work. So what is Nehemiah doing here? He's
out reconitering. He's analyzing the situation
even further. He wants to know the details. And
what I want to say to you is this, when you think
you understand what the vision is that God's
laid on your heart, when you have this opportunity
that seems to come from God to you, the first
thing that you need to do is to test your vision,
look at that opportunity against reality. You
need to analyze the situation. You need to get
the data. so that you know more precisely what
you're dealing with. The second step in this
process of problem solving is also found in Nehemiah.
It is to set some objectives. What is it that
needs to happen here? What outcomes do you hope
to realize because of your work? Well, Nehemiah
tells us in chapter two and verse five that he
intended to rebuild the defenses of the city.
He wanted to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
That was an objective that he had in light of
the situation. Now there's also an assumption
here that he has another objective and that is
to restore the honor of Jerusalem and its inhabitants
because they've been disgraced by the situation.
of the city. And so his overarching objective
is to restore the honor of this city and to its
inhabitants and in doing that to honor God. So
those are his objectives. Step number three in
the process is to figure out the strategies.
How should these objectives happen? What approach
should be taken? in order to deal with the vision
or the problem or the purpose that God has put
before you. What are the strategies? This is
important, to figure out the strategies. The
story is told about some folks who were attending
a conference in San Francisco for Mensa. Do you
know what Mensa is? It's for smart people. You're
supposed to have an IQ of 140 or higher to belong
to this organization. I've never even researched
what it means to figure out what that means.
No need in it. They were meeting in San Francisco
and a group of them went to a coffee shop. And
arriving at the coffee shop they sat down at
the table and they noticed that there was salt
in the pepper shaker. And there was pepper. in
the salt shaker. And so being the brilliant people
they were, they decided they needed to figure
out a way to resolve this problem without pouring
out the salt or the pepper and then pouring it
back in the containers using their hands. And
so they wanted to use just the implements that
were there at the table to accomplish this task.
And there was a spoon and there was a straw.
and there was a saucer. And so they talked for
some time regarding various strategies to figure
out how to accomplish this great task. And finally,
they had it down. And to impress the waitress,
they called her over to the table and they explained
what the problem was. And they started to tell
her what their solution was and she interrupted
them. She said, oh, she said, that's no problem.
And she took the top off the salt shaker and
put it on the pepper shaker and took the top
off the pepper shaker and put it on the salt
shaker. She solved the problem. She had the right
strategy. Well, once you have understood what
your objectives are with this problem, let's
say, you need to figure out what your strategies
will be. For Nehemiah, he knew that it meant
personal involvement. There was no way this was
going to be resolved without him going personally
to the city of Jerusalem. Secondly, he knew there
were going to have to be some resources. This
was a huge task to rebuild the wall of the city
and its gates and to do that in the context of
a lot of enemies who did not want to see that
happen. Thirdly, he knew that workers were going
to have to be enlisted. to get the job done.
He could not do it by himself. And so that was
basically the approach he was going to use. Those
were his strategies. And so once you figured
out your strategies, then you put down a plan.
How am I going to do this? How am I going to
fulfill this strategy plan that I have put in
place? What details are going to make it happen?
And so you begin to list the activities that
would be necessary. Nehemiah tells us what that
was. Nehemiah says in his case that his first
activity was to present the situation to the
king. Present the situation to the king. Now
this was all in the context of prayer because
that's where he began. But number one, he was
going to present the situation to the king. Secondly,
he was going to gain the king's assistance some
way. This was a long and dangerous traveling
journey to get to the city of Jerusalem from
where they were. And so he needed to have the
king's assistance to get there. Third, he wanted
to request materials from the king's resources.
That was the only place he knew that he could
find them. And fourthly, he knew that he was
going to need to organize the exiles for the
vision that he had. And so we see that he does
that. We're in chapter 2 and let's look at verse
17 where he speaks to the people and he says
to them You see the trouble we're in Jerusalem
lies in ruins its gates have been burned with
fire He explains what the problem is He says
come let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. We
will no longer be in disgrace I also told them
about the gracious hand of my God upon me and
what the king had said to me, and they replied,
let us start building. Notice that he goes to
enlist the people for this fourth activity. He
needed to get volunteers. Do you ever need to
get volunteers for anything? Do you ever need
to find help to accomplish the task that God
has given to you? Well, we all do from time to
time. Let's notice how Nehemiah does that. First
of all, he defines the issue for them. He says,
here's the problem. The walls are torn down,
the gates are burned. He defines the issue. Now
this was not news to them, but they had not seen
it as something that could be resolved. They
saw it only as a situation in which they lived.
But he paints for them the issue, and then he
casts the vision. He says to them, let's rebuild
the walls. Third, he shows the outcome of doing
this. He says, we will no longer be in disgrace.
He provides the inspiration by telling them about
God's gracious hand upon him and what the king
had said to him. And then finally, he gains their
participation. It says, they replied, let us
start rebuilding. And so they began the good
work. Notice that. Now he gives you a good example
as to how you too can enlist volunteers. You
know it's not enough to put an announcement in
the bulletin that you need this project taken
care of and would you please help us. That's
not enough. You need to go through a process
if you're going to be effective in recruiting
people to join you in a task, and Nehemiah shows
you what a five -step process looks like. Well,
this is all part of Nehemiah's planning. Number
five, plans are made. There's the execution of
the plan. How do you make this happen? What actions
now will take place? Well, we see it summarized
really just in that one brief sentence at the
end of verse 18. They began this good work. And
so you see they executed the plan. Nehemiah is
a master organizer, manager, planner. He's gone
through the steps of a common problem solving
process and God has blessed it. In chapter three
we learn about what this means that they began
the work. The whole chapter nearly is dedicated
to how Nehemiah divided the wall among the inhabitants,
assigning them to teams, and then giving to each
team an appropriate portion of the wall for which
they were responsible. There were about 45 sections
to the wall as he divided it up. There were 40
leaders who were given delegated responsibility
with their teams to look after specific portions
of the wall. And then the 10 gates are also named
and the teams that were to repair those. And
so they executed the plan that had been put into
place using the resources that God had provided.
And then the final step in this process of dealing
with your problem is tracking. Tracking, a lot
of people forget this part, but you need to in
some way measure the results. What are the results?
Well, Nehemiah tells us he tracked the results.
Turn over to chapter four. Look at verse six.
He says, so we rebuilt the wall till all of it
reached half its height. For the people work
with all their heart. And so he notes here is
one measurement. They are half done with the
walls. Now they've done this in the midst of
enemies. There were enemies who opposed them.
Read about them in the previous five verses.
There was Tobiah and Sanballat. Enemies opposed
him. He mentions them. That's part of the measurement.
The wall is half built, but at the same time,
we have faced incredible odds. There are adversities,
there are obstacles to what we want to do. He
records them, but he tells us that he pressed
on. He pressed on despite the growing and persistent
opposition of these enemies. In response to the
opposition, they prayed and they posted guards
around the perimeter of their work. And then
in chapter six, in verse 15, we come to the end
of their work, and it says, so the wall was completed
on the 25th day of Elul in 52 days. The wall
was completed. This is another marker, a measurement
of their work. It's done in 52 days, and this
is absolutely amazing. It is amazing that this
wall could be built in that period of time. And
in chapter seven, verse one, he goes on to say,
after the wall had been rebuilt and I had set
the doors in place, the gatekeepers and the singers
and the Levites were appointed. Another marker.
He tells us that the gates were put into place
and the keepers of the gates were then appointed.
And then the rest of chapter seven records the
names of the leaders and the contributions which
they all made to the work. Isn't that amazing?
He follows through in this whole process that
only in the last few decades has been formally
stated by experts in the field of management.
Nehemiah was thousands of years ahead of them.
It's just common sense is all it is really. So
Nehemiah did his part. He was responsible. God
expects you and me to be responsible too. We
have a part to play. And when we do our part,
we follow through with our responsibility, then
God will do His part. And what is God's part?
Summed up, we might say it is to be faithful.
Be faithful. When we do what we can, God will
do what we can't. We serve a God who will not
fail to advance the vision, the purpose, the
task, the dream. that he births within us. Now
like Nehemiah, we may need to learn to wait on
God's timing. We may need to learn some character
lessons as we go through this process, but always
God will come through when we do our part. After
Nehemiah began to pray, you may not have noticed
in the first chapter, he waited. for four months
before the opportunity was right to speak to
the king. God used those four months to birth
in Nehemiah a greater understanding of what his
work needed to be. He says in chapter two, verse
12, I had not told anyone what my God had put
in my heart to do for Jerusalem. Notice that
phrase, what my God had put in my heart. God
had put the vision in his heart. God had matured
that vision. And now we see that God was faithful
to Nehemiah. What did God do? God provided resources
and protection through the king. They were given
the opportunity to draw wood from the king's
forest. Nehemiah was given some army units to
go with him on this journey. God provided the
resources and the protection because Nehemiah
did his part. Secondly, God guarded them against
their enemies. In chapter four, verse 20, it
says it really well, the end of the verse. Nehemiah
says, our God will fight for us. Now he did what
he could do. He put out the guards. They had
their swords in hand and their trumpets and so
forth, but notice what his confidence was. Our
God will fight for us against our enemies. God
will always guard you against your enemies when
you've done your part. The enemies may not go
away. You may still face obstacles, but God will
guard you. And finally, God gave the builders
unity and success. Nehemiah talks about this
a number of times. How God worked in the hearts
of the people so that they carried out the work
and God gave them success. The good hand of God
was upon them. Back in the 1970s, early 1980s,
there was a man named Jim Montgomery here in
San Jose. Maybe some of you remember him. Jim
Montgomery went about 1985 to the Philippines
as a missionary, I believe with OC. And while
he was there, God birthed in his heart a vision.
He began to dream of every village in the Philippines
and every large city neighborhood in the Philippines
having an appropriate church there. a church
that would be able to preach the gospel and reach
the people. That dream began to bubble in his
heart. It bubbled in his heart and he called
the dream Dawn, D -A -W -N. It stands for Discipling
a Whole Nation. And he tried to understand how
God would have him organize this, this concept.
And things didn't quite seem to work. And he
couldn't raise the money that he needed to make
it happen. And then God told him, Jim, you're
depending upon that house you have back in San
Jose as your security. And so he went to the
edge of his life and he came back to San Jose
and he sold the house and he invested everything
that he had in the vision for Don, discipling
a whole nation. And at that point, God moved
in. Jim had done his part, and now it was God's
part. And God has taken that organization not
only from the Philippines, but to other nations
of the world. They have a headquarters now down
in Florida, discipling a whole nation. And what
was it that brought that dream to pass? It was
a man who was responsible to do his part and
who then depended upon God to come through. The
eyes of the Lord reigns throughout the earth
to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed
to Him. I think of a businessman here in San
Jose who is developing and selling a software
program to businesses that brings together some
very important issues that customer -oriented
businesses must deal with. simplifies the process
for them. And he's attempting to get this off
the ground. He has done his part and God is doing
his part. But you know what the vision is? It's
not to help companies as much as it is to take
that software that's being developed and give
it to ministries, which are volunteer based.
so that they can do a more effective job, so
that we can do a more effective job in managing
volunteers. I think of a team of men that I meet
with who have a dream. It is a vision to help
nations of the world, third world nations, to
create an economic engine. in their nation. They
want to see nations prosper because of the principles
of capitalism that we have learned here in Silicon
Valley. And they're moving out. The plan is in
place. There's a lot at risk for this team of
people. They're doing their part and now we are
waiting together for God to do his part. But
you know what the greater vision is? The greater
vision is that in each one of those countries
where this dream is fulfilled, a part of the
revenue that is generated and the potential is
phenomenal, a good deal of that revenue is going
to be directed toward church planting and missions
in those nations. It's just somebody's dream.
God has put it on his heart. And like Nehemiah,
he has begun now to live on the edge. This team
is living on the edge, waiting for God to come
through. And God is not going to fail. Living
on the edge is a partnership with God to do his
work and to bring him honor. God was honored
in the building of this wall in Nehemiah. Nehemiah
in verse 16 says, When all our enemies heard
that the wall had been completed 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 You see God was
honored Where are you living on the edge of your
life partnering with God to do his work and to
make his name great? working On your God -given
task, you never work alone. When you do what
you can, God will do the rest. Would you pray
with me, please? With our heads bowed and our
eyes closed, do you realize that salvation is
a little bit like this, too? There's God's part,
and then there's your part. God's part is to
provide the Savior for you. God's part is to
provide for your forgiveness. Your part is to
receive it. Even though God has provided the
Savior, that Savior does you no good until you
receive Him into your heart and into your life.
Will you do that today? If you will do your part,
God will do his part and bring that forgiveness
to your life. Would you receive him right now
in the quietness of this moment? Will you do
your part? Assuming you have done that, child
of God, determine in your heart to partner with
the Lord. Open your heart to God's dream for
you. It may consume your whole life, it may only
be a piece of where you are right now, but let
God's vision be birthed in you, and then be responsible
with it. God will be faithful. And Father, I
pray that you will write that lesson on our hearts,
and I pray that as we close this service, that
you will show us that all things are possible
for those who trust you, for those who will do
their part and then trust you to do your part.
You are a God who does not and can never fail.
Underscore that within us, I pray in Jesus' name,
amen. Worship team is going to come now as we
sing this song that we all.