Foundation Fixers

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. Isaiah 58:12

God knows cities. He knows their foundations, good and bad, he knows their history, he understands their character, and he sees their potential. He sees—you could say has planned—that cities usually have economic foundations, sitting on trade routes or parlaying some geographic feature for commercial gain and the sustenance of peoples.

God also knows that most cities need regeneration. Where foundations were good, they have often been burned by the fires of corruption and greed, power grabbing and discontent. Where foundations are bad, “chains of injustice” and “the cords of the yoke” were and are the order of the day. Business can be for blessing, of course, but carries the inherent danger of amassing wealth, and with it, the power to oppress.

We live in an era where the twin forces of urbanization and globalization make cities strategic in God’s agenda. The challenges are daunting but God’s word is still true: “Your people will rebuild.”

If you are a believer who works in the marketplace you have a calling to be on God’s repair crew. How do you respond to this call?

• Be equipped for your ministry in the marketplace. Learn how to do business God’s way so that you do not perpetuate the problems of business that is independent of God’s counsel and governance.
  
  
• Understand the foundations of the city where you are ministering. Through inquiry and intercession, learn what stones were laid at its inception.
  
  
• Unite with those, past and present, who, like Nehemiah, have sought the welfare of the city. Build on their work in prayer and pragmatic transformation.
  
  
• Call out businesses to work in an opposite spirit to that which is wicked in their city.
  
  
• Repurpose business through the formulation of business strategies that loosen, undo and destroy the works of the enemy in their city.

If every business owned or operated by a believer developed strategies that counteracted bad foundations and re-laid righteous stones, our cities would speed towards transformation. This is the hour when God is calling businesspeople to heed the challenge and counteract the self-serving appeal of business as usual. May God indeed rename and repurpose us so that we will take up our role as “Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

Reflections

• ·       How would you describe the condition of your city?
  
  
• ·       How is your business impacted by the state of its foundations, streets and walls?
  
  
• ·       Is there some aspect of your city that your business is positioned to address?

An Open Door

 

See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. Revelation 3:7-12

When you have just lost a job, a contract has evaporated, a promising path has gone nowhere, or your bag of hope has leaked a trail of sand behind you, then it does not feel like “an open door that no one can shut.”  Some of us have gone so long, we feel we haven’t seen a door for quite some time.  So what do we do?

First, we recognize that the real doors are in the heavenly realm. Second, we know who holds the keys. “These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the keys of David.”  Third, we don’t get hung up on our own condition. “I know that you have little strength…”

What do we do when we feel a door is shut in our face? 

‘Keep my word …do not deny my name …endure patiently …hold on to what you have …don’t let anyone take your crown …keep your reward in sight.’ 

Finally, see that we are not lost and gone, but rather temporarily slowed down, suspended, or in dry dock while God writes a new name on us. 

“I will write on him the name of My God… and I will also write on him (who overcomes) My new name.” 

Laid off, laid aside, set back, sealed behind a closed door?  No; just temporarily closed for renaming.

  

Reflections

• ·       Do you sometimes feel that you are forgotten behind a closed door?
  
  
• ·       Why do you think God sometimes shuts doors in front of you?
  
  
• ·       Are there any aspects of past productivity that God has shut down for a season?
  
  
• ·       What new name might God speak over your life when he declares you “open for business” again?

Lean On Me

“…this leaning wall, this tottering fence.” Psalm 62:3

Let’s face it, we all have days when we feel like we are about to fall over. There are times when we think we are bound to become just another fallen layer in the archeology of life. King David knew that if he didn’t collapse because of his own frailty, then there were plenty of people who were happy to help him crumble. “How long will you assault a man? Would you throw him down—this leaning wall, this tottering fence? They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place…”  How did David deal with this opposition? Rather than try to pump himself up, he made sure his frail fence was located in the right place.

5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;

       my hope comes from him.

 6 He alone is my rock and my salvation;

       he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

The question is not whether we are a leaning wall; the question is, “What is our wall leaning on?” You may argue, “I am doing fine—my health is good, my finances are great, my wall is sturdy and I have a bright future.” That’s good, if your wall is in the right place. If your money is your wall, “though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.” (v.10) If your strength is your wall, “men are but a breath” – two puffs and life is over, your strength is gone. If you come from a noble family, remember “the highborn are but a lie.” (v.9) The posture of your wall is less important than the positioning of your wall.

The enemy knows that the real battle is not for the condition of your fence, but for the position of your fence. Satan tried, through his accomplices, to lure Nehemiah outside the city, but Nehemiah stayed in the right place. Samson had a strong fence, but compromised its position. Job stood firm: “even if he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” (Job 13:15)

If you have your fence in the right place, if it is high up on the rocky fortress, if it is set on a rock, then it doesn’t matter too much if it falls over. If your wall falls, he is capable of fixing it. There is no fear on the rock.

Reflections

• ·      Are you afraid of teetering, falling? Why? Why not?

• ·      What are you leaning into—God himself, or the things around you?

• ·      What does it mean to “set our heart” on riches? (Verse 10)