What Comes Next

“Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem …” (Nehemiah 7:1-2)

Nehemiah finished the wall, but he wasn’t finished.

He was done with what seemed like the project of his lifetime. He passed off authority. He took his hands off his magnum opus.

But as he moved away from the wall, he never moved away from God. He let go of the big project, but he maintained a sensitivity to God’s voice. He was no longer the lead builder of the wall. But still, he was the servant of the Lord, ready at any moment to do the will of the Lord.

And in the open space of availability, the Spirit spoke again:

“The city was wide and large, but the people within it were few, and no houses had been rebuilt. Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles and the officials and the people …” (Nehemiah 7:4-5)

For Nehemiah, it was never about the wall. 

It was always about worship. 

Protecting the city made room for praise within.

Now that Jerusalem was fortified, it needed to be filled. And because Nehemiah didn’t confine his calling to construction, he was ready and available to do the work.

God “put it into his heart,” just like when Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the king. God hadn’t run out of ideas for his servant. As soon as the wall was complete, he had fresh direction to impart.

The defining dream of your life isn’t a project. It’s a person. Jesus prepares an abundance of opportunities for his servants who stay sensitive to his voice.

Don’t look back at the wall: the work that seemed to define your life. Look ahead to the Lord. God’s good works are always prepared and planted in advance (Ephesians 2:10).

Servants of Christ never retire. They move from one degree of glory to the next. When they finish the wall, they go back to the Master with open hands: “What’s next?”