For Such a Time as This

NEHEMIAH WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL

Did you know that you have been purposefully positioned by God in this exact time and season?
How does obedience, even when costly or risky, shape godly character and Kingdom leadership?
In what ways does the present “shaking” create both exposure and opportunity for God’s unshakable Kingdom to advance?

For Such a Time as This

It requires courage to step out and lead as a follower of Christ in the midst of a world that is becoming more hostile to Christianity. But you were not born into this time and season by accident. God sovereignly positions leaders in history to fulfill His Divine purposes. God caused each and every one of us to be born into our fullness of time just as Jesus was (Galatians 4:4). And God trusts you to complete every task that He has entrusted to you.

Esther came to her “royal position” to save a nation and to save God’s people from destruction. But for each of us who has received Christ, we have become kings and priests, a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9-10). God has brought us into both a priestly position and a royal position, and perfectly positioned us in space and time to fulfil a specific Divine purpose. 

We need to have the courage to step out in obedience to our Heavenly Father – even when, at times, that obedience goes against what others advise and against what seems to be right. Obedience always has trials and risk built into it, which is why it develops Godly character as we negotiate the challenges according to God’s leading (James 1:2-3).

Faithful disciples of Jesus shine as light amid darkness, advancing God’s purposes in their generation. And just as God called us out of darkness and into His glorious light, so He has called us to shine like a city on a hill, and to become salt and light (Matthew 5:13-14) in a world that is being shaken, and is desperately seeking answers.

Hebrews 12:26-27 tells us that “Yet once more I (God) shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” 
Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things
that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

There are a few key things to notice. Firstly, it is God who is doing the shaking. Because of the shaking, the enemy is being stirred, and his plans are being revealed. We must always remember that believers will have the ultimate victory. Secondly, there is something which cannot be shaken, that shall remain. What is it that cannot be shaken? Verse 28 tells us – we are receiving “a Kingdom which cannot be shaken.”

The shaking that originates in Heaven grants us a Divine opportunity to examine everything that we have become accustomed to doing, and to readjust our lives as necessary to ensure that we are aligned with God’s end-time purposes.

And – through the shaking, through the testing, through the seeking, and through the resting, everything is being put into place for an unprecedented outpouring of the Spirit of God. At the same time, adversity will be used by God to bring His people, individually and collectively, to their knees in prayer.
 
Isaiah 33:6 is another key verse for the current times. It says, “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure.” In other words, the wisdom and knowledge of God, dispensed through His servants whom He has placed strategically in positions of influence during the end times, will provide great guidance and stability in an unstable world being buffeted by the schemes of the enemy in the midst of Divine shaking.

Just like Jesus, each of us has also been born into our own fullness of time, and each of us has a Kingdom purpose to fulfill that is intended to have eternal impact on our generation and on the generations to come.  We have been born for such a time as this – and this is the exact, divinely synchronized time for us to step out in faith and act upon the Divine opportunities that God is presenting to us. This also means that every opportunity has a specific time allocated to it. 

Awareness of God’s timing – our fullness of time – will encourage us to become very diligent in our preparation, so that maximum growth and fruitfulness will be attained through Divine opportunity that is recognized and executed in the perfect way and at the perfect time.

Let’s pray.  Father, please strengthen our courage to obey You completely and to embrace the fullness of our appointed season. Please impart the wisdom that we need to discern Your timing, the grace to stand firm amid global shaking, and the faith to step fully into the Kingdom purposes that You have entrusted to us. Amen.lance where it has been lost, and to renew our perspective of who You are. May our lives be always established upon the foundations of peace, intimacy, and obedience. Amen.

This devotional is written by Pastor Steve Harris, the founder of Global Influencers, an organization that trains and equips leaders and emerging leaders to establish anointed communities that transform nations by restoring Kingdom culture from grassroots to government in the villages, cities, regions, and nations of the world. He is also the Content Development Assistant in the Nehemiah Entrepreneurship Community.