The change efforts that we make on various occasions often reach a dead end. Be it personal matters, work, or ministry. When this happens, it is easy for us to feel discouraged. One thing that is needed is a willingness to evaluate what we are doing and initiate changes down to the smallest aspects that may have been missed.

The restoration of Jerusalem is basically an effort of movement and change that targets the scope of the nation and state. When the Jews were allowed by God to return to their ancestral land, Nehemiah as the leader of the nation, was very aware of the heavy burden that they had to bear in relation to the restoration that had to be started immediately. Obstacles continued to arise. Nehemiah realized that careful planning was needed in the development process. In the end, the city was completed, but the struggle was not over. The process of relocating the city needed to be organized as well as possible.

Nehemiah 11:1-36 tells the relocation process quite thoroughly. Names grouped by tribe began to appear. They are also identified based on the strategic roles they will play. Interestingly, in our current passage, the process is not only centered in Jerusalem but also in the villages or remote areas surrounding the city. People from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin are recorded as residents who inhabit these outlying areas. The even distribution of the population inhabiting all corners of Jerusalem and its surroundings provides an illustration of the strategy used during the restoration of Jerusalem. This process is certainly real evidence of God's guidance and wisdom for His people.

Bible friends, through this story we learn to use reason in the light of God's wisdom when making all plans until the time of realizing the plan. God's wisdom allows us to pay attention to the smallest details that must be worked on so that the plan for the changes we want to realize can be realized properly. That is what is also seen when the surrounding areas in Jerusalem are not spared from the resettlement efforts. So let us depend and surrender to His wisdom alone. Do everything with careful calculation based on His wisdom and lovingkindness.