What We CAN VS. What We WILL....

My church and the staff members have been doing a study over Nehemiah! For the month of January, each staff member is to post a blog entry on our church blog. I am responsible for Tuesday's night blogs which post on Wednesdays. Here is my blog for this week, as it pertains to this historical day for America!

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This morning, along with many Americans, I watched history being made. Barack Obama, the first African American elected president, took the oath of office as the 44th president on Capitol Hill. I couldn’t help but to think about how Obama’s leadership of America is similar to Nehemiah’s leadership of the City of Jerusalem.

President Obama stated in his speech…"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility—a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task”.

Now go back and imagine how Nehemiah must have felt when he took leadership of the rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, much like we are rebuilding and restructuring the “walls” of America. Not a lot has changed since Biblical times. As Christian Americans, we have often forgot about God in our daily lives. We have been “culturized” by money, materialistic pleasures, and the media. But God has not forgotten about us!!! We need to call upon God to be in control and be the center of the work that needs to be done. He would be honored for us to call upon Him to reveal HIS plan to us….and let HIS light shine within us as we rebuild.

As President Obama stated, we can have a list of things we “can” do....but what will make a difference is what we “will” do.