Field of Dreams

“Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. So my God put it in my heart to assemble…” Neh. 7:4

One of my favorite all time movies is Field of Dreams, a movie about a man who was led by an unknown impression to build a baseball field. He was standing in the middle of a field when he clearly heard the message to ‘build a field and they will come.’ That is the only information he had but immediately knew that this was the direction in which his life would turn. He obediently began building a field and kept his focus on that goal instead of thinking ahead to the future.

In Chapter 2 of Nehemiah, God placed on his heart to ‘build the walls.’ Once that was completed, He placed on his heart to ‘go and assemble the people.’ I am so amazed that we have a God who knows how to communicate to our spirits so clearly that we cannot miss His plan if we are focused on Him. He knows that we would frustrate His plans if He shows us too much, too early. He placed in Nehemiah’s heart phase 1 before God showed him that he would also be called to phase 2.

I am so overwhelmed this morning as God continues to ‘put things in my heart.’ In the beginning of 2008 God placed the desire in me to develop a family ministry. After much praying and talking through the possibilities, Bruce and I came up with Emerging Life Ministries, ELM. Over the past 4 years this ministry has been anchored by a daily morning devotional blog. It has been a wonderful manner in which to develop a spiritual discipline of morning study, prayer and meditation on what God is revealing to me. But this morning, God put in my heart that the ministry is shifting from building to inviting. He spoke clearly to me through this wonderful book of Nehemiah. I do not have to know what my part is in phase two because I know with certainty every step will be divinely revealed.

Everyone has a ministry for which they have been called that requires time, work and lots of prayer and self-discipline. God builds ministries through our pain and adversities as our walls of faith are laid one layer at a time. But the spirit of our ministry is the people, not the name of the wall. ‘A city is much more than walls, gates and houses; a city is people. In the first half of Nehemiah, the people existed for the walls; but now the walls must exist for the people.” Warren Wiersbe. We do not have to be intimidated by God’s calling for whatever He calls us to build, He will enable…sustain…and fulfill. ‘For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.’ 1 Co. 3:9

“Build it and they will come.”