YM Devo: Getting Others Involved

Read Nehemiah 3

Some questions to ponder:

1. How many groups of people helped in rebuilding the wall?
2. What were some of the different jobs that were involved in rebuilding the wall?
3. How much of the wall did Nehemiah rebuild?
4. What does this show you about involving others?

Encouragement:

It was Nehemiah’s passion and heart to begin to rebuild the Jerusalem wall (Nehemiah 1).  But he could not rebuild it alone.  He needed help from others. First he needed the King to let him go of his duties and head back to Jerusalem.  Then, in this passage, we see that it was others who helped rebuild the wall.  In fact, there were so many groups of people involved in helping that Nehemiah was not even mentioned as being apart of any of the repair crews!

In the same way, when we are called into a ministry position, people will look towards us for leadership, vision and direction.  Like Nehemiah, God has given us a vision, passion and desire to undertake this ministry.  But just as Nehemiah knew that he would not be able to build the wall all by himself, we need to recognize our need for help.  Without help and support from others, our effectiveness and ability to succeed will be limited.

Whether it is in our personal lives or in ministry, you need to get others involved.  Much is at stake – your families, marriages, the lives of youth you serve and their families.  That is why you need to surround yourself with others who will care for and support you personally as well as help you fight in this mission to win youth for the Lord.  If you try to pull a Lone Ranger and go after Christ and youth alone, you run the risk of never truly being effective as a follower and minister of Him.

Personal Application:

1. What kind of support network do you and your family have that encourages you in your life, your relationship with Christ and your marriage?
2. If you do not have a group of people that encourages you in these areas, identify a person or group of people you can get involved with so that you can have the fellowship and accountability you need to thrive.

Ministry Application:

1. Examine what kind of help you have in reaching students for Christ.  Do you have enough adequate help?
2. If you do not, what is 1 thing you could do this week to get more people involved so that you can be reaching students more effectively?
3. If you do have adequate support, DELEGATE at least 1 thing you normally do to a volunteer.  That way you are encouraging and inspiring them to be more effective in their ministry.

In all, it took the people of Jerusalem 54 days to rebuild the wall (Nehemiah 6:15-16).  I wonder how long it would have taken if Nehemiah just tried to rebuild it alone.  Get others involved in both your personal life and ministry.  When you do that,  you will benefit but also others will as well because they get to step up and walk alongside of you through all that life and ministry have to throw at you.

TAKE A MINUTE and pray that God would examine your life and ministry for ways that people can come alongside of you.