“If you build it, He will come”

The above quote is taken from the 1989 Kevin Costner film ‘Field of Dreams’ and it is often misquoted as “If you build it, they will come.”

In the film he hears a voice that gives him the task of building a baseball pitch on his land.  I won’t say much more, see the film if you want all of the details.  However, there was a fulfilment to his endeavours.  The building it, lead to miracles happening.

Another man who felt compelled to build something was Nehemiah.

Nehemiah; whose name means ‘God comforts’ was a Hebrew born in exile under the Persian empire. At the start of the book of Nehemiah, he is the cupbearer to Artaxerxes King of Persia; around 444/445 B.C. When one of his brothers returned with news from Jerusalem, this is what happened: “In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

They said to me,‘Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.’

 When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:1-4

Nehemiah learned about the great need of the people of God in Jerusalem and his response was to weep, fast & pray.  He immediately turned his focus and attention to God.

But he didn’t just pray.  Out of this time spent with God, he felt emboldened and compelled to action. He spoke to the King and with God giving him favour, he was able to go to Jerusalem and start the work of rebuilding the walls.

This work was not without its difficulties or opposition.

Whenever we are building something for God the enemy will always oppose the work. He will try to use circumstances and people to discourage, hinder, and threaten the work we are doing to build God’s kingdom.

It was the same for Nehemiah; he had to contend with the likes of ‘Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab’, but was resolute in his purpose, and most importantly, he did not try to do the work alone.

Nehemiah got everyone involved in the work of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

Even when they discovered a plot by their enemies to take them all by surprise whilst they built the wall; Nehemiah encouraged them and focussed them on who they were building the wall for; ‘Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.’ – Nehemiah 4:14.

They were building the wall together, some with a sword & shield in hand to protect each other.  Building it for God and for their neighbour; for their families, their children & their children’s children.

It’s the same today, when we work together in building something for God’s kingdom, we are also building something good for our neighbours, our families, our children and leaving a legacy for our children’s children.

At Llandudno Youth for Christ we are wanting to build the Kingdom of God, one soul at a time.  Letting young people know about Jesus, and giving them the opportunity to discover a relationship with Him.  As part of this work, we need fellow builders.  Those who will come alongside us and work with us; whether it be helping out at our Saturday Cafe Reverb@St John’s, at our Sunday evening Bible Study: ‘Redefine‘, our Thursday after-school drop-in ‘Reverb – Youth Space‘ or praying faithfully with us at our Monthly Sunday evening prayer meetings; we greatly need and appreciate you being part of building walls of faith, hope & love in Llandudno and beyond.

If you want to help us with this great work, please contact us via email: llandudnoyfc@gmail.com, by phone: 07517 429 763 or by post: Llandudno Youth for Christ, c/o Ty Llywelyn Community Centre, Ffordd Yr Orsedd, Llandudno, LL30 1LA.

“If you build it he will come.“