God Is Rebuilding Through You - Lady Bishop Kathy Kiuna
Imagine watching your brother or sister being chosen and taken away because they are beautiful, brilliant, gifted, or seem to have more to offer. It would be hard not to wonder, “What about me? Am I not good enough?”
Lady Bishop Kathy Kiuna came with a message for those who have been left behind.
When King Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, he took the best of the best: young men without physical defect, handsome, gifted in wisdom, knowledgeable, and capable of serving in the king's palace (Daniel 1). He understood that capturing the people with the greatest perceived potential weakens a nation's future.
But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.
1 Corinthians 1:27 (NKJV)
Some of us came to Rhema Feast carrying brokenness in the form of rejection, disappointment, insecurity, bitterness, and the feeling of being left behind while everyone else seems to be moving ahead. But God is not disqualifying you because of what has happened to you. He is rebuilding you.
A rebuilt wall without a rebuilt people simply becomes a prison. If the heart remains broken, rejection can become bitterness, and bitterness can lead us into unhealthy relationships, self-sabotage, and constantly belittling ourselves. Walls protect and cover; when they are broken, anything can come in and out. So, before God rebuilds what is around you, He must rebuild what is within you.
Nehemiah was not in Jerusalem when he heard about its condition. He was in the palace, serving as the king's cupbearer. Yet the brokenness of Jerusalem touched his heart. In Nehemiah 1:3-4, his response was not indifference. He wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed.
Builders are burdened by what is broken around them. Before Nehemiah carried stones, he carried a burden. Then came the vision, the assignment, and eventually, the plan.
You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.
Nehemiah 2:17-18 (NKJV)
This is not the language of a spectator. It is the language of a participant. You cannot build from a distance. At some point, you have to leave your comfort, come close to the brokenness, and put your hands to the work. Nehemiah was in the palace, but the palace did not dictate his purpose.
You cannot build when you are too comfortable to step out. Nehemiah did not rebuild the wall alone. Everyone had a section. Different people, different abilities, different locations, one assignment. And nobody competed for another person's section because they understood that they were building together.
The same is true for us. Stop admiring everybody else's section while neglecting yours. Find your section, and whatever you build, build it well. Because when one person drops the ball, the wall remains vulnerable.
Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations...
Isaiah 58:12 (NKJV)
God is still looking for builders.
And He is not just looking for the people the world considers impressive. The stones may be burnt. They may not look beautiful. They may have been rejected and forgotten, buried beneath the rubble. But God knows what He can build with them.
The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
Psalm 118:22 (NKJV)
Some of you have been hidden in the rubble, wondering whether anyone sees you. The Spirit is looking. And the same God who rebuilt Jerusalem's walls in just 52 days after years of ruin can accelerate what you thought would take a lifetime.
The waiting season is over. So, come. Pick up your stone, find your section, and build.
Building From the Place of Rest - Lady Bishop Kathy Kiuna.