Day 37: Called to repair and restore

…you see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire; come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a reproach. (Neh. 2:17)

If you take away from your midst the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall rise in obscurity, and your darkness be as the noonday. And the LORD shall guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and make your bones fat; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And those who shall be from you shall build the old waste places: you shall raise up the foundations of many generations, and you shall be called “The Repairer of the Breach,” “The Restorer of Paths to Dwell In.” (Isa. 58:9b-12)

Anyone who joins his life to the Lord inherits a new name and a new destiny in God. Jesus said, “Behold, I make all things new,” and this applies to men and women, too. But whatever other callings they may receive, Christians share a common call to build up waste places, raise up fallen foundations, repair the walls and restore the paths.

Sometimes a call to repair and to build is literal and physical. This was certainly true of Nehemiah – and of us. But God’s people are always called to repair and restore what needs mending in the lives of men, women, and children. Imagine a community of servants who apply the healing balm of Christ to the wounded people and families of the region. Imagine that this community had the skills and the grace from Heaven to teach its region the old paths that can bring soundness and joy back to families and neighborhoods. God is asking you and me to become the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Paths to Dwell In.

God, I accept the call to restore what Your Word calls the good and pleasant paths. Use me to restore people, homes, neighborhoods, and even cities. Make me a Repairer of the Breach!