“Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?” Nehemiah 4:2c

Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting Pompeii, Italy. This city on the coast of Italy was once a thriving metropolis of wealthy, powerful Romans. Until Mount Vesuvius covered it in layer upon layer of volcanic ash, essentially burning the city into a specific spot in the fabric of time. As you walk through the city, some buildings are nearly fully intact. Archaeologists have even been able to clean and preserve the mosaic tiles artwork on the walls and in the fountains. Other areas, though, have mere reminders of what was once there. You have to step carefully as you move through the rooms, avoiding the stones that were once pillars or door posts or walls. 

As a tourist attraction and a look into the past, the city is fascinating. No one lives there, anymore, though. 

Ruins on display

There are many stories of building projects that get delayed because ancient ruins are discovered when they dig down to build the foundation. If the ruins are important enough or attractive enough to tourists – such as Pompeii – they are uncovered and put on display for all to admire. Sometimes there is rubble in our life. We uncover an old hurt, an embarrassing memory, a shameful choice and it throws us for a loop. Whatever we were trying to accomplish comes to a screeching halt. Maybe we continue to excavate, to dig out the pain, but chances are we’re then going to set it up like an artifact in a museum and continue to stare at it. 

Rubble rebuilt

Nehemiah is working to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, to help the city return to some state of glory, even though its days as a powerful nation are gone. The old wall is mounds of rubble, though. It would have been easy for the Israelites to stare at the pile, to bemoan it’s existence, or even to leave it as a monument to their people’s failure. But that wouldn’t have been obeying what God called them to do or moving their people forward after a period of great struggle and strife. 

The master rebuilder

There are times I look around my life at the mistakes I’ve made, at the things I wish I had done, and at the opportunities I missed and I ask the same question Sanballat was asking of Nehemiah. Can life be brought from this rubble? When we look at our life and offer ourselves nothing but ridicule because of the rubble we’ve allowed it to become, we need to remember that our God is in the miracle making business. He is in the master of restoration and rebuilding. Nehemiah didn’t leave the wall in rubble. Instead, they built it back. God can restore our lives. When we give the rubble to him, he doesn’t put it in a museum so everyone can see how we’ve failed. No, he rebuilds us, restores us, and does indeed bring life from burnt stones. 

Like Nehemiah and the workers along the wall, we just have to keep trusting the process and not allow ourselves to dwell too long amidst the rubble. 

Kristi Ann Hunter