Nehemiah 11:1

Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem, and the rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come and live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the other nine-tenths remained in their towns. The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem. (Nehemiah 11:1-2)

When your perspective is too small to know if a choice was right, faithfulness is the one thing God still asks of you.

Setting the Scene: A City That Needs Inhabitants

By the time we reach Nehemiah 11, the work has largely been done. When the book opened, there was a temple but no walls. Jerusalem could be pillaged by anyone passing by—no defenses, no protection, utterly vulnerable. This broke Nehemiah's heart, and when the king asked why he was troubled, Nehemiah threw up a quick prayer and explained. The king, valuing Nehemiah and his service, sent him out with resources to do the work.

After all kinds of problems back and forth, the walls are now finished. Jerusalem is safer than it has been in perhaps eighty years. The infrastructure is there, but the most pressing need now is for people to actually live in the city. Nobody wanted to live there before, because it was open to attack from surrounding peoples who enjoyed its weakness. Now the walls are up—but as we all know, if you leave something empty, it falls apart over time.

So Nehemiah gathers the people, and they face a choice: do I stay in my town, on my street, or do I go and live in Jerusalem? It is a life-altering decision. How should they make a decision like this?

A Framework for Making Decisions

We often make decisions by listing pros and cons or flipping a coin. For bigger issues we might use prayer and fasting. But several steps help us make godly decisions.

First, we need to define the decision. What is actually being asked of me? Sometimes opportunities are open-ended and poorly defined. Part of defining is asking, is this even a valid ask? If you're married and someone of the opposite sex invites you out for a drink, that's already off the table by virtue of previous decisions. We also need to ask about duration—is this for a day, a week, a month?

Then we look for a clear right and wrong. Am I being asked to violate God's will as revealed in Scripture? If so, that's an easy no. Am I being asked to harm myself or my family? Am I being asked to do something that will glorify God and extend His kingdom? That carries more weight than something that merely builds a business or makes me more comfortable.

Next, am I equipped for what is being asked? If someone offered me a nuclear plant to operate or a plane to fly, I have no training and no business doing it. There are things in my past, my personality, or my present that disqualify me. A sub-question: do I have the know-how, or am I teachable? In 2020 our roles changed here at the church; we had to learn to teach to a camera, and Nick Burt had to learn to record, produce, and upload sermons because we couldn't meet face-to-face. Sometimes the question is not "do I already know how" but "can I learn this?"

Counting the Cost and the Call

Am I available, or can I become available? Some decisions require us to change our lives to make ourselves available. And will I be a blessing or a burden? Some opportunities aren't suited to us, and taking them makes us more burden than blessing. Am I easy to work with? Can I assimilate into an existing system, or do I need everything done my own way? These questions reveal things in ourselves we may need to change.

We also have to ask, what are the consequences of saying yes or no? Saying no can shut doors to other, better, God-glorifying opportunities. How will this affect my time, my treasure, my family? What happens if this need is not met? Can I sleep at night walking away from this? Sometimes my first inclination is no, no way—and yet God has a way of waking us in the night, asking, "Can you really say no to this?"

Finally, am I called to this? Some people experience an unmistakable, "you are going to do this." I have never gotten that. For me, calling has almost always been disguised as opportunity. A door opens, I walk through, and only looking back can I see God's calling on my life.

We could ponder all these questions—and the people of Jerusalem likely did. But let's throw the biggest monkey wrench into the middle of it all. Point one: our perspective limits our understanding, which affects our choices.

Closing Prayer for Wisdom

Lord, as we look at Your word today, I pray that You would speak to us. As we ponder decisions, weigh right and wrong, and look at advantages and disadvantages, we understand that our perspective is not Your perspective. Help us understand what it is to follow You with the choices we make. Give us wisdom and discernment on how best to make decisions and what to do once we've made them. Help us to glorify You in how we do this and to grow closer to You. We pray these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.

Joseph: A Life Without Perspective

Our perspective—how we see things—changes our understanding, and the amount we understand helps us decide. When we don't understand much, decisions become very hard. To illustrate, we'll take a 747-level view of the life of Joseph in Genesis.

In Genesis 37, Joseph is seventeen, his father's favorite. Because of that, his brothers hated him. Joseph had dreams—prophetic and truthful—showing his brothers, and even his father and mother, bowing down before him. Now, who in their twenties or thirties wants to hear a seventeen-year-old say that? His brothers hated him even more. We might debate the wisdom of sharing those dreams, but we don't have enough information to judge. We often assign value to things without enough perspective to know what the value really was.

Joseph's father sent him in his special coat—likely a mark of supervisory status—to check on his brothers and report back. The brothers saw him coming and plotted to kill him. This is not normal sibling rivalry. They threw him into a dry cistern, a fifteen-foot pit. One brother intended to come back for him; another saw a slave caravan and said, let's sell him instead. They sold Joseph, bloodied his coat, and brought it to their father, claiming an animal had killed him. Their hatred for their brother superseded their desire to honor their father.

From Potiphar's House to Pharaoh's Court

Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold to Potiphar. Because Joseph worked hard and was honest, Potiphar trusted him with more and more. Then Potiphar's wife set her eye on him. When she grabbed his garment, he wriggled out and ran—and for the second time his garment was used to tell a lie about him. She claimed he attacked her, and Potiphar threw Joseph into prison.

In prison Joseph was again found faithful, and the jailer gave him charge of others. Pharaoh's chief baker and cupbearer were imprisoned, and both had dreams. Joseph interpreted them: in three days the cupbearer would be restored, and the baker would be executed. It came true exactly. Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him—but the cupbearer forgot.

Two years later, Pharaoh had troubling dreams, and the cupbearer remembered "a dream guy." They cleaned Joseph up and brought him before Pharaoh, who heard him interpret: seven years of plenty, then seven years of famine so severe the plenty would be forgotten. Joseph advised storing grain through the fat years. Pharaoh said, "Where will I find such a man?"—and set Joseph over all Egypt, second only to himself. Joseph was thirty. He had spent roughly half his life as a slave and a prisoner, and now ruled Egypt.

God's Plan Behind Every Step

Over seven years Joseph stored grain that could not be measured. When the famine struck—not just in Egypt but everywhere—he led Egypt through it, buying property and livestock for grain and building enormous wealth for Pharaoh. Back home, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy food, and they bowed before a brother they did not recognize. Eventually Joseph revealed himself, and the whole family came down to live in Goshen.

Notice the detail: the Egyptians considered the Israelites reprehensible and would not eat with them; they also despised shepherds. God used even that racism for good, settling the family in Goshen, ideal shepherd country, keeping the Jews separate. They entered Egypt as a family and came out a nation.

Was God with Joseph through all of this? Absolutely. Did Joseph think so? It's hard to say. Look at the decisions stacking up—how many would we call obviously godly? Probably not many. Yet we can see God's intent looking backwards.

And where is God going with all of it? He saves His people. He makes a superpower out of Egypt, grows Israel into a great nation inside it, then sends them out while breaking the back of Egypt and frightening the surrounding nations. He gives them the promised land, raises up Saul, then David, then prepares a girl named Mary and a man named Joseph to raise a boy named Jesus, who saves His people from their sins, dies, rises, ascends, and is preparing to redeem all creation.

Our Perspective Problem

We tend to see our decisions as individual choices. With Joseph it's easy to alliterate—the pit, the prison, the palace—as if they were separate. But all of it is linked, woven together like a tapestry God has been weaving from the garden of Eden to the return of Christ. We see only a tiny portion. The part that feels massive to us, when we pan back to the whole picture, seems minuscule.

When did Joseph understand what God was doing? I'd say he never fully grasped it. He could see parts looking backward—he told his brothers, "What you meant for evil, God used for good." But even then he didn't see the grandeur of the plan; he had no concept that God would bring His only Son to earth through that preserved nation. His perspective was too small.

My wife and I started fostering years ago. When a sibling came into the system, we went from a family of seven to a family of eight in a single phone call. But we had no vehicle for eight, so we bought the biggest production vehicle ever made—a Ford Excursion. We loved it. Then the engine died. We replaced it; then the transmission went. You start thinking, that was a bad decision. But do I have the perspective to make that judgment? Was money the most important thing? Was something else going on I don't understand? What felt monumental because of the cost looks utterly inconsequential when I step back—yet in the moment I still had to decide with a very small perspective.

Point Two: Faithfulness Because Our Perspective Is Limited

So how do we make godly decisions when our perspective is so tight? The methods we discussed are fine. But we must remember that we utterly lack perspective on where our decisions lead, or even whether they were right or wrong. Faithfulness is vitally important because we have a limited perspective.

Once we make the very best decision we can, then no matter what occurs, we need to be faithful to God and live in a way that honors Him—whether in the pit, the prison, or the palace. God is with us in all those places, and He calls us to be faithful in all circumstances. He doesn't say, be faithful while you're healthy. Just as marriage vows say in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, in poor and rich, we are called to be faithful to God in all situations—standing over the casket of a beloved child, or winning the Powerball.

Knowing God and His character as revealed in His Word helps us cling to Him in the hard times. That is why we spend time in the Word—so that when everything seems terrible, even if all we can say is "Jesus, help me," we know He is a God who is with us, who suffered and suffers alongside us.

Nehemiah 11: Leaders Who Stayed

Now we open Nehemiah 11. "Now the leaders of the people stayed in Jerusalem." The leaders had to stay by virtue of their position. Leadership comes with obligation; a city needs leadership, and the leaders were there.

Leadership comes from calling, which is often camouflaged as opportunity. When I first stepped into ministry, I didn't step into teaching or leadership with vast Bible knowledge. I started sitting in the parking lot on Saturday and Wednesday nights—back before iPhones—listening to sermons on my iPod, wearing a bright orange vest with a flashlight, making sure no one stole cars. That was my big jump into ministry. Looking back, that opportunity was part of God's calling. It progressed from parking lot ministry to ushering, to helping in junior high, to teaching junior high, to leading our high school ministry, and now to family ministry. I never got an audible call; I was presented with opportunities I had to weigh—calling camouflaged.

Leadership also comes from availability. As a volunteer high school pastor, the role demanded more than I could give alongside my job and family, so I went in to quit. When I met with Miles to tell him, he asked if I wanted a job. My availability was a problem until it wasn't—calling camouflaged again. Leadership also requires ability, which is often just a teachable spirit. I had to learn how to talk with a high schooler or junior higher and their family after a suicide attempt. And leadership requires qualification—often simply not being disqualified. Just as you must be a natural-born citizen to be President, certain things qualify or disqualify us for roles.

The Benefits and Burdens of Leadership

Leadership comes with benefits. It's good to be the boss—even though there are long hours, public scrutiny, your family becoming a target, and being on call 24/7. But you get to work with Jesus, see lives changed, and let your kids see behind the curtain. My previous job was never going to take me to Paraguay, Mozambique, or Houston—some of that with my kids, which is an amazing blessing.

But leadership also brings responsibilities: a higher code of conduct, spiritual responsibility, perception management, and treating people like Jesus wants even after they've hurt you or your family. It brings accountability—we hold leaders to a standard others aren't held to—and pitfalls: confidentiality to uphold, and the temptation to feel better than others.

In Nehemiah, some things are not optional for leaders. Staying in Jerusalem was required. As 1 Corinthians 4:2 says, "Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful." It is not a suggestion. Point three: God values and requires faithfulness.

Casting Lots, Volunteers, and the Nine-Tenths

"The rest of the people cast lots for one out of ten to come live in Jerusalem." They had volunteers, but not enough, so they began drafting—one out of ten. Is casting lots a valid way to make a godly decision? What if this morning we rolled dice and assigned you to security ministry? You might object that you're not suited or didn't volunteer.

Here's how I'd rank decision-making. Godly wisdom is best—if knowing God's character as revealed in Scripture answers the question, that's the highest path. If questions remain, seek good counsel; for a financial decision I'd ask the financial guy, not a pastor. If counsel still leaves two valid yeses, preference is a good tiebreaker—I'll likely be better at what I prefer. And if there's no preference, or both options are equally undesirable, a coin flip beats paralysis. But in all of it, we are required to act faithfully.

"While the other nine-tenths remained in their towns." Were the nine-tenths less faithful or less worthy? I don't know. I tend to judge people who don't serve in ways I can see, but I have a pathetically narrow viewpoint from which to judge anyone. God has called all of us to believe in Him, and that belief demands action.

A Blessing for Those Who Volunteer

"The people blessed all the men who volunteered to live in Jerusalem." There is a blessing for those who step up without being drafted. It is admirable to answer the call to service—like when everyone in the room is hoping someone else will go get the ice cream, and one person finally says, "I'll go." It is necessary; somebody has to do it. And it involves sacrifice.

I'm deeply involved in our children's ministry, which we rebuilt from the ground up after 2020. Sunday is only the tip of the iceberg; teachers receive the curriculum during the week and study, pray, and prepare. There's a sacrifice in anything we serve in—and sacrifice isn't wrong or bad.

We also know these things sometimes get misused—people serve for reasons other than glorifying God. But misuse by some doesn't invalidate the service of others. When a famous pastor fails morally, it doesn't indict all pastors, any more than a left-handed murderer indicts all left-handed people. We learn from the mistakes, get better, and above all, we need to be found faithful.

Whose List Are You On?

The rest of the chapter is a long list of names—the leaders, the volunteers, and those chosen by lot. We won't read them all, but God found their service important enough to record it in Scripture. Imagine meeting one of them in heaven—"Aren't you the leader of the gatekeepers from Nehemiah 11?"—and giving him a high five for making it into the Bible.

If you drive through Cabrillo National Cemetery in San Diego, you pass lines and lines of white markers, because it matters that we remember them. At the Vietnam Memorial, the names are important to a few people in particular—my dad went looking for one specific name—but the larger list testifies to a value and sacrifice we should all appreciate. These people in Nehemiah 11 stepped up when others didn't, choosing to live in a city that was still a target and not entirely ready, still needing the work done.

So the last question: what if God is writing a record of our current events? What list would we be found on? You don't have to be a pastor or work in children's ministry or security or do something giant. For anyone and everyone—but especially for those who claim the name of Christ—the question is simply this: will I be found faithful?

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, as we close this out, I just want to be found faithful. I pray that this is the cry of all our hearts this morning. Help us apply it to every aspect of our lives—which is the choice that is most faithful? And when we've made those choices, and some felt great and some felt tough, and we don't know because our perspective is so small, help us to remain faithful, whether it's horrible or wonderful. We see the children of Israel routinely fail when things are great; help us remain faithful when things are great. We see them turn to You when times get tough; help us be faithful when times are hard. Help us be faithful when it costs us nothing, and faithful when it costs us everything. Help us remain close to You. Jesus, we pray these things in Your name. Amen. Go forth and be found faithful. God bless you.