When we hear the word thriving — whether we’re talking about a person’s life or a church — we tend to picture people who have it all together. No problems. No regrets. People who got it right the first time.
But that’s not how thriving actually works.
To get where God wants us to be — as individuals and as a church — requires something we rarely think of but all desperately need: a second chance. A chance to start new. And all of us need a second chance more than once!
If we’re honest, all of us have conversations we wish we could take back. Words others said that left marks on our hearts. Mistakes we’ve made, people we’ve hurt, decisions — financial, relational, moral — we wish we could undo. We carry shame and guilt for a long list of things.
So is it possible to go back?
Yes and no. You can’t unsay something. You can’t unhear something. Here’s the hard truth: your life is where it is because of your choices and the choices of others.
But what happens next is what determines where your life ends up.
This was exactly the situation for the people of God in the book of Nehemiah. They lived in a broken-down city — a city without walls — because of their own choices and the choices of the generations before them. At some point, someone decided not to rebuild the wall. And then the next generation made the same decision. And the one after that.
And for many of our families, schools, organizations, and churches, this is our story.
We’ve spent the last several weeks in the book of Nehemiah, and we’ve arrived at chapter 8 — a pivotal turning point. The walls have been rebuilt. People are moving back into the city, returning to normal life. They are starting over. This is their second chance.
Remember the shape of this book: the first half is about God building the city through his people. The second half is about God building his people.
It’s easy to read a couple of pages in the Bible and gloss over how hard this actually was. The city had lain in ruins — stone, wood, all of it burned and destroyed. What happened here is what so many of us long for in our own lives but wonder if it’s really possible. That’s what this whole series is about: how to rebuild something and thrive.
And as they move back into the city to start over, they lay their foundation the same way every time: by opening up the Word of God.
At the start of chapter 8, we meet Ezra the priest, sent back to Jerusalem by the king, just as Nehemiah was. Ezra stands before the people and reads the Book of the Law of Moses — for five hours (8:5 – 6).
When we read Scripture, the Holy Spirit speaks to us and changes us — and we respond in worship. We’re not meant to experience the Bible like any other book. It’s the living Word of God. It shows us who God is and who we are. When we truly encounter God through his Word, it moves us to worship and to follow him.
How do they respond to the reading of God’s word? They weep (8:9).
Why were they weeping? Partly because of their own sin, confronted by God’s holiness. But also — as we saw last week — because even the critics of Nehemiah’s building project had recognized that God had shown up and worked on their behalf. Finally, the people themselves saw it too.
Sometimes we’re just slow.
Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to see God at work in someone else’s life than in your own? But now, finally, they see it. They see God’s hand.
So the leaders tell them: “Do not grieve, because the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
When Scripture says the Lord is your strength, it means you’re hiding in something bigger than yourself. You’re satisfied in the one who can cover you, care for you, and forgive your sin.
It’s often after the fact — after we get home, after the dust settles — that we recognize the impact of what God has done. These people had just watched a wall be rebuilt in 52 days after it had sat in ruins for decades. And it was only in looking back that they understood the weight of it.
And often, the way for us to move forward and start over is to look back to see how God has moved in the past.
