Out Of The Rubble

We've been in a series called arise and build going through the book of Nehemiah.

I'm gonna invite you if you can join me in Nehemiah chapter 2 and verse 14.

Nehemiah 2 · chapter mention

I'm gonna start there and then we're going to jump over to chapter 4.

The word of God says in the new living translation,

then I went to the fountain gate and to the king's pool.

But my donkey, could it get through the rubble?

He said I went but I couldn't get through the rubble.

Now chapter 4 and verse 2, this is the new American standard version.

It says, and he, and here it's speaking of a detractor named Sambalot,

spoke in the presence of his brothers and the wealthy people of Samaria and said,

what are these feeble Jews doing?

Are they going to restore the temple for themselves?

Can they offer sacrifices?

Can they finish it in a day?

And watch this question.

Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble, even the burned ones?

I want us to look at these texts today and I believe that God has placed a message

on my heart to share with you called, out of the rubble.

Out of the rubble.

I'm going to invite you right now to pray with me because I believe God wants to speak

today and I need to get this word delivered.

I need to get this word out of my heart and into yours.

Father, we come before you.

We thank you, God, for the presence that we feel in this place.

Lord, surely you have come to meet us here.

And we don't want to miss our blessing.

We don't want to miss out on what you're doing.

We don't want to miss our miracle.

And I pray today that as the word goes forth, God, it would fall on good ground as a seed

in the soil in our hearts.

Lord, anoint the hearing of every person in this place today, God, no matter where they

are at in their faith, no matter where they are at in their journey, God, that this word

would touch them and anoint these lips of mind, God, and put your word in my heart that

I might speak it with clearly, clearly and boldly in the name of Jesus Christ.

Everyone say amen.

You may be seated in God's presence.

Amen.

Out of the rubble.

Despite having the favor of the King and the support of the people near Maya, which still

have to face obstacles and opposition in the process of reviving the walls of Jerusalem.

In his inaugural expedition of the city, he was met with the grim and engulfing reality

of the ruins.

Clearly nothing could prepare him for the sheer amount of rubble that clogged the gates and

filled the city.

It was overwhelming to him.

Despite hearing about the troubles and the destruction being there in that zone had such

a profound impact on him.

It looked and it felt like a war zone because indeed it was.

I want you to know that when or lose, rubble is what's left after the battle.

It's the mess after the struggle.

It's the grief after the loss.

It's possibly the regret or the consequences after sin.

It's the bitterness or the blame after the trial.

Rubble is what's left after the battle.

Even after hard fought battles that you win, there is still rubble.

It's the time that you cannot get back.

It's the changes that you have to accept or the unfinished business that you have to work

through.

The rubble is that that remains after you've gone through maybe a period of difficulty,

a trial, a tribulation or just any kind of traumatic or heartbreaking, troubling experience,

win or lose.

Whether you felt like you came out on top or that that trial got the best of you.

The rubble is what remains.

When people talk generally about or dream about rebuilding and reviving the walls in

their life or the walls in their ministry, they tend to underestimate the rubble.

The rubble is just not something that we factor in to the steps that we have to take.

It's not something that we spend a lot of time maybe thinking about in our vision casting

or in our imagination and our planning of where it is that we want to go in our life.

We think about the walls.

We think about the big stuff.

We think about the great things or the wonderful things that possibly await.

Those promises and those dreams, those aspirations, those callings that God has placed in us.

Brightly so that those would be the things that we focus on, those goals and those places

that we want to go in our faith.

We don't spend much time, however, thinking about or preparing ourselves for the rubble,

the rubble.

This is exactly what happened to the people of Judah.

The Bible says in Nehemiah chapter 4 and verse 10, then the people of Judah began to

Nehemiah 4 · chapter mention

complain, the workers are getting tired, they said.

There is so much rubble to be moved.

We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.

As the work commenced there in Jerusalem, the people of Judah, the people of God were

coming together and the work had began.

So as they started and as they were probably with some inspiration, I'm sure that there

was a lot of excitement in the beginning over the potential building of this wall, they

ran into some hurdles right away.

They realized in this text here, they're practically saying, this is harder than what

we thought, this whole building of the wall thing.

It's harder than we thought.

This rubble is not something that we accounted for, it's making it hard, it's making it impossible

for us to work effectively on the wall.

This rubble is kind of wearing us out.

I mean, we want to get to the wall, we want to get to the big stuff, we want to get to

the exciting stuff, we want to get to destiny and promise it, we want to see these things,

but the rubble is in our way and it's making our jobs hard, it's taking a toll on us, taking

a toll on our bodies, it's wearing us down and it's causing us to lose morale.

Moral is at an all time low right now because it's taking longer for us to get where we

thought we would be.

We thought we would be further along in the process than where we are now.

We thought we would be at a further point than we are now, but we can't do it, there's

just too much rubble.

There was so much rubble there that the people just couldn't get past it and they started

losing sight of the wall.

They started taking their eyes off the dream that God had given them and spending all their

time just overwhelmed in and engulfed in and discouraged by the rubble that surrounded

the walls and so they were discouraged when they saw that.

They wanted to build a new wall, they wanted it, I believe in their hearts, they wanted

to build this wall, but they were buried in old rubble.

Let me tell you something, you see that it's hard to build the dream when you're still

cleaning up the nightmare.

It's hard to build a new future, a new path, a new ministry, a new life goal, a family

goal when you're in a pile of rubble.

If you're not careful, you can lose out on what God wants to do in your life, not because

the dream is not attainable, not because the enemy is too big, but because the rubble is

overwhelming, the amount of work, the amount of toil, the amount of effort and sweat equity

that you have to put into actually getting it done overwhelms most people.

It's not the wall that takes people out of the game, it's not the wall that takes people

out of doing what God has called them to do.

Oftentimes it's the rubble that surrounds them, but the Holy Ghost set me here today

to tell you, to tell somebody to inject this word into your heart that God is greater than

your rubble.

I said, God is greater than your rubble.

And I've come today with a word of encouragement to tell somebody that if you're staring at

rubble in your life and you're wondering how you're going to get past it, how you're

going to move on, God has given me a word, God has written a prescription for you today

to take it to your heart and take home with you.

How many of you want to come out of that rubble?

How many of you want to see revival and restoration in your heart and in your life?

Clap your hands and let's give God some praise today.

The first thing you need to do if you're going to come out of the rubble is you need to cancel

the lies.

Rubble, the rubble became a bigger issue for the people of Judah after a band of detractors

plotted against them and sought to confuse them and halt their efforts.

Zambalit was the ringleader.

He was the loudest and most outspoken of the bunch.

He was the one that kind of corralled everyone against the people of God and began to speak

harshly and critically about what Nehemiah and his countrymen, the Israelites, were doing.

And he was very outspoken.

He began to scoff at the people of God.

And one of the things he said as I read in my opening text, what are these feeble or

these weak or powerless Jews doing?

Can they revive the stones from the heaps of rubble?

These menacing words magnified an already difficult situation because now on top of the rubble,

they've got negative noise in their life telling them, you're wasting your time.

Now they've got negative voices in their life telling them that you could be doing other

things and going to other places rather than be in this pile of rubble.

The rubble was enough already to deal with it.

But now they have these detractors, these opposers that are coming around them and trying

to talk them out of their vision and talk them out of their future and talk them out

of the things of God.

And they were telling them among themselves that you're never going to make it.

You might as well just throw in the towel and you might as well just give up because

look at you're wasting your time.

You've got nothing but rubble.

You haven't even got to the dream yet.

You haven't even got to the revival yet.

And all that sandballed and his gang of followers wanted to do was keep the people of God down

and smash their faith and lower and belittle them and just confuse them and distract them

from what they were called to do.

And as you are trying to rebuild the walls in your life, as you are trying to chase after

the things of God and after your ministry and after revival and restoration, either for

you or for somebody you love, you're going to face the rubble.

But on top of that, there's going to be some sandballets.

There's going to be some voices.

There's going to be some discouragement that tries to come and talk you out of doing what

God is telling you to do.

And this is what they wanted to do.

They wanted to tell them to stop.

And the reason why was because sandballets and his gang of friends were threatened by

what these people of God were getting ready to do.

My God, cannot preach this like I want you today.

They were threatened by these men and these women and children about what they were going

to build because sandballets and his little gang, his little posse of critics were regional,

supervisors throughout this land of Judah.

And they had power and they had influence and they had control over the minds of the

people through fear and controlling tactics.

And so what they feared more than anything was that these people would rise up and remove

them from their positions of power.

And so they tried to stop them.

Let me tell you today the reason why you're facing possible criticism, the reason why

you're hearing voices of doubt and fear and confusion is because the devil is terrified

of you rising up and taking back what belongs to you as a child of God.

And so he tries to discourage us with lies and deceptions and confusions to take us

out of the game and distract us and they cause us to abandon the thing that God has called

you to do, that same spirit of sandballet is working and alive today.

And I have seen this ugly foe distract many people from their callings of Christ.

You see the name sandballet, it means hatred in secret or secret enemy.

It means hatred in secret or secret enemy.

This is the spirit of sandballet.

It doesn't always announce itself.

It doesn't always come barging at you.

It doesn't always ambush you, but it works in secret.

It works behind the scenes.

It tries to catch you off guard.

It tries to catch you in a moment of weakness.

In a moment where you're not quite at your best.

Haven't you ever noticed that when you're already kind of low, here comes the devil

to come to remind you about where you are?

Have you ever noticed when you're already discouraged or when you're already overwhelmed,

here come these voices, it happened to Jesus when he was in the wilderness and he was hungry

and all he probably wanted to do was eat, but he was chasing after the thing of God.

And then here comes the enemy to tempt them and say, hey, why don't you turn these stones

into bread?

It's always at your lowest point.

It's always when you're already tired that the enemy comes to discourage you.

But I've come today to tell you that God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of love,

power, and a sound mind.

I've come to tell you like Nehemiah did when he stood up before the people of God and he

said, don't be afraid of the enemy, but remember the Lord who was great and glorious among

you.

I've come to tell you that your God is greater than every work of the enemy against you.

I wish I had a witness in this place today.

We see that the people of God were discouraged and they didn't know what to do and they had

to get past these, not just the piles of the rubble, but also past the lies, telling them

you can do it and you'll never amount to it and you'll never go further than where you

are now and you'll always be in this position and you'll never get past this hang up and

you'll always, you're always going to bear this label on your life and you're never going

to get out of debt and you're never going to get to where you need to go and you're

always going to be, come on now, we hear these voices in our lives trying to keep us down,

but I got news for the devil.

You messed with the wrong people today.

You, my God, I said you messed with the wrong church.

You messed with the wrong people because we've got the truth of God inside of us.

How many of you are thankful for the truth of God?

We've got the truth in us and we can respond to the enemy today, not with our emotions,

not with brain power, but with Holy Ghost power and say, my God is for me and if God

be for me, who can be against me?

Somebody give the Lord some praise today.

I feel this in my bones and we got to call the devil a liar because that's what he is.

Somebody say amen.

He's a liar and we got to call him what he is and the only way to cancel a lie, you got

to speak the truth.

Someone say speak the truth.

That's right.

Speaking the devil a liar is one thing, but you don't fully cancel a lie until you speak

the truth.

You got to respond with truth and Nehemiah did that as I quoted a moment ago.

He stood up in front of the people.

He said, don't be afraid of the enemy.

Hey, don't be afraid to remember who your God, can I tell somebody today, remember who

your God is?

I said, remember who you're, do you know, remember who you serve?

Remember that your God is greater than everything.

Remember that your God created the universe and everything in it.

Remember that the earth is His foot still.

My God, remember that He is high and lifted up and His train fills the temple.

Remember that your God has never lost a battle.

My God, remember that greater is He is in you than He that is in the world.

Remember, remember where He brought you from.

How many of you are in our testimony today of where God brought you from, amen?

I said, how many of you are testimony of where He brought you from?

Remember and He's telling the people, don't be afraid.

He said, remember that our God is great.

Don't be afraid of the enemy.

Don't be afraid of the big bad wolf.

Don't be afraid of Him because you know what?

It's all smoke.

It's all smoke.

It's all lies, smoke and mirrors and deception because He knows that if you ever get a real

revelation of who you are.

He knows that if you ever unlock the code, if you ever unlock the secret of who you are

as a child of God, He'll never be able to stop you.

My God, He'll never be able to stop the people of God.

So we've got to cancel the lies.

From this day forward, I'm not going to hear the enemy anymore.

I'm not going to entertain him any longer.

Stop talking with the devil.

Start rebuking him.

I've been talking with the devil all week.

I've been fighting.

Why are you fighting that guy?

He should be under your feet.

You know, back when I was younger, we had testimony service sometimes and some people

would get up, man.

You would think the devil was just in charge of their life.

The devil this and the devil, they're just blaming the devil for everything, man.

Giving the devil all kinds of credit.

Sometimes we give the devil more credit than he deserves.

The devil don't have the power to do anything unless you give it to him.

Oh my God.

Hey man, y'all don't want to hear about that kind of stuff.

The devil is chasing me all week.

The devil wasn't chasing you probably anyways.

One of the one probably one of his lower, you know, one of the lower devils.

But here's the thing.

That's not really where our battle is.

Here comes the rubble.

After you cancel the lies, you got to clear the rubble.

Someone say clear the rubble.

Clear the rubble.

You see, canceling the lies is the easy part.

But clearing the rubble is not so easy.

It's not a comfortable process.

It's not an overnight process.

Clearing the rubble.

Someone say the rubble.

Can I tell you about clearing the rubble?

Clearing the rubble is messy.

It's hard.

It's tiring.

It's tedious at times.

Clearing the rubble is humbling.

It's inconvenient.

You can't rush it.

You can't skip it.

Can you ignore it?

Yeah.

But it's still going to be there tomorrow morning.

It ain't going away.

Not going to grow feet and just walk out of your life.

It'll eventually catch up to you.

It'll eventually catch up to you at some point.

Not going away.

It's hard work.

It's tedious.

And eventually you're going to find yourself facing that rubble.

You can put it off another day, another week, but eventually you're going to have to face

and deal with the rubble.

And at some point, regardless of how hard you work on that wall, you're going to end

up where the people of Judah ended up with only a partially constructed wall.

This is what happened.

We read in Nehemiah 4 and verse 6.

It says, so we built the wall.

They already started building the wall.

Everything's going.

Things are moving.

And the entire wall was joined together to half.

Someone say half.

To half is high.

So this is what happened.

The people that were working and they were trying to work their way around the rubble

as best they could.

I mean, the rubble was there, but I think they thought they could just kind of work around

it.

Deal with it later down the line.

Deal with it at some other point in life.

We got to get to the wall.

This rubble, it'll sort itself out later.

This rubble, it'll get ironed out at some future date.

So they started working on the wall.

But then the rubble just wouldn't go away.

The rubble just kept waiting for them like every day.

And they were getting tired and they were just overwhelmed with it.

And then as they were building the wall, they only got to about halfway.

And they said, we can't do this anymore.

The people of God got to a halfway point in the building of the wall.

And then they just wanted to give up.

The same thing happens to a lot of people who try to skip past or move beyond the rubble

without clearing it out.

If you don't take care of business with the rubble in your life and just try to jump into

building whatever it is God wants you to build, eventually you won't have much of anything

to speak of.

Eventually all you'll have is a half built wall.

A half built ministry.

Ah, come on now.

A half built prayer life.

A half built dream.

A half built goal.

And there's a lot of people, unfortunately today, because they don't deal with the rubble

and do the work of the rubble, they've got a lot of half built walls in their lives.

A lot of unfinished walls.

You got a lot of uncompleted projects.

And this is for somebody, a wake up call because you have a habit of starting things

you don't finish.

Oh, y'all, you want the piano player to come on up now.

Hold on, brother Ricky, I ain't ready for that yet.

You got a lot of half built walls.

And then when you get tired, my God, you say, I'm ready, sign me up.

Put me on the team.

Put me in coach.

I want in the game.

I want some of that.

And so God begins to open door and you start, but then you leave the rubble there.

You leave the rubble in your emotions, the rubble of the things that you're not taking

care of, and then you just jump right in the ministry and then a few months later, you're

just burned out.

And you're not burned out.

Can I help somebody today?

Someone say, go ahead.

You're not burned out because too much is being expected of you or you're not burned

out because the wall is too hard.

You're burned out because you're not taking care of the rubble.

You blame the devil, the devil that, no, it ain't the devil.

It's the rubble.

Until you deal with the rubble, it doesn't matter how big your vision is, how wide you

see, oh, God's going to use me.

God's going to take me there.

God's going to do this.

But you still got rubble.

And so we sign up January.

Everyone loves January, right?

Because it's like New Year's resolutions.

This year's my year.

I'm going to, 2024, I'm going to get more and all these other things.

I made that up.

I want more in 2024.

You want more and what have you done with the last?

Because it's January and already by March is like, I don't know if I could do this anymore

pastor.

Well, what is it?

Is it the wall or is it the rubble?

Oh, my Lord, help me.

Hey, help me today.

Holy ghost.

You see, dealing with the devil is one thing, but dealing with the rubble is another.

You can resist the devil.

What's the Bible say?

He's got to flee.

Right?

Rebuke the devil and he will flee.

You can rebuke him, but can I tell you something?

You cannot rebuke the rubble.

You can wake up every morning.

That rubble, I rebuke you and guess what?

That rubble is going to be there tomorrow morning, the next day.

You can't rebuke your way out of the rubble.

You've got to deal with the rubble.

And I'm going to give you some examples of what that rubble might be.

I go, we're going to be good.

But how do you deal with the rubble?

Someone say, how?

You got to deal with it.

First of all, one stone at a time, one day at a time, one decision at a time.

I get some of the anxiety right now when I said that.

They're like, wait a minute.

I thought you were just going to lay hands on me and all the rubble was going to be gone.

No.

I can lay hands on you to encourage you to go back home and deal with that rubble.

And you could, would Paul say, I can do all things?

If the rubble is what's left after the battle, after a difficult season, after a trial, after

just a period of the test of you or just a hard time, OK, if that's what the rubble is,

if it's what's left after a battle, then what does clearing the rubble look like for you

today?

Let me give you some examples of what this is because less you think I'm just talking

and just vague terms.

What does the rubble look like?

Let me give you some examples.

The rubble is, maybe it's getting counseling.

Yeah, I just lost you right there.

One session at a time.

So if you're the one counseling, just give me 15 minutes and they think 15 minutes is

just going to solve it.

Maybe you need counseling.

But then I've got to commit to that.

I've got to meet like every other week and I've got some of us have given up on those

things and we're wondering why we can't finish the wall, get back to the rubble.

I'm going to say, amen.

Maybe it's climbing out of debt.

How do you climb out of debt?

One bill at a time.

I'm waiting to hit the lotto, man.

If I hit the lotto, I'm going to pay off all my debts.

Praise God.

Don't forget to tie it though, amen.

I'm going to win the lotto.

Can I tell you?

You ain't going to win the lotto.

It'd be nice if this one check just get rid of all the debt and all that.

Hey, hey, hey, that'd be nice.

But the reality is one payment at a time.

You say, do I buy this or do I pay off that?

Uh-oh.

See, people don't shout, no one runs the aisles over this.

But you know what?

I'm tired of seeing people get caught up in the rubble and it's the rubble that keeps

them from doing the work of God because instead of being more available for the things of

God, they're having to work double and triple time to pay off debts and pay off the car

they can't afford and the boat they can't afford.

You don't even live near a lake and you got a boat.

You don't want to hear this.

Maybe it's sticking.

Maybe the rubble is sticking to a health and fitness plan.

Praise God.

How do I do that?

One day at a time.

One meal at a time.

One visit to the gym at a time.

Everyone's posting selfies at the gym in January but then by March it's like, oh man.

I don't know.

That's not my calling in life.

How many of you believe this is the temple of the Holy Ghost?

I don't mean me.

I mean all of us.

Amen.

This is God's space.

God only gave us one body.

I think we should take care of it.

Amen.

Amen.

We've got to get healthy.

How do you do that?

One day at a time.

And if you commit to it one day at a time, what's going to happen?

You start clearing the rubble and then you get your health back and now your health is

not in your way of giving more to the things of God.

I know men and I say this with all due respect.

Whose ministries, whose destinies were cut short and I say this respectfully but because

they didn't take care of this body and I say that respectfully because I don't want anyone

to think I'm putting them down but the truth is, you know, we are the product of what we

put in not just spiritually but physically in every regard.

Maybe the rubble is seeking more accountability in your life.

How do I seek more accountability?

One check in at a time.

You check in even when you don't have to check in.

You just check in.

Just to let you know I'm being more accountable.

My Lord, one check in at a time.

I got a few more for you.

Is that all right?

Can I give you a few more today?

Amen.

We were wanting to wrap this up.

Listen, there's a few more things.

I'm trying to give you some real life examples of how we clear the rubble because these are

the things that they're not exciting.

Like nobody gets too excited about this stuff but I'm trying to help somebody so we can

build the wall.

Amen.

Maybe it's working with difficult people.

How do I clear the rubble of difficult people?

Well, probably one conflict at a time.

Wouldn't it be nice, God, just to remove all the difficult people in your life?

Hey, man.

Just show up on Monday morning and there's no difficult people.

Hey, man.

But then I wonder if we would be there.

Uh-oh.

Yeah, we never think we're the ones, right?

It's always other people.

But how do I deal with these work?

How do I deal with them?

How about one conversation at a time?

How about one day at a time?

How about just say, you know, maybe God is leaving that person in your life to teach

you patience.

I want to be more like Jesus.

Be careful what you ask for.

I want to be Christ-like.

Be careful what you ask for.

Why?

Because God's going to put some people that are going to sharpen you.

God's going to put some sandpaper to smooth the edges out in your life.

And sandpaper don't feel very good.

But that's how we remove the rubble.

Hmm, someone say, hey, man.

It could be just grinding like Samson was after a dark period in his life where he lost

his hair and now he's grinding.

It could be just grinding in a dark place, in a strange place where you know, I know

there's more for me than what I'm doing.

And here I am in this remedial task.

Here I am, you know, working below what I'm worth.

Here I am not getting the attention I deserve, but I'm just going to keep working and working

and proving myself.

And then God says, when you clear the rubble of your pride, when you clear the rubble, then

you're ready for more.

And this is where people usually give up.

But can I tell you that the rubble is not your enemy?

The rubble is your friend because it's the rubble that's going to teach you endurance.

It's the rubble that's going to, my God, it's the rubble that's going to teach you forgiveness.

It's a rubble that's going to teach you discipline.

It's the rubble that's going to, my God.

It's the rubble that's going to cause you to grow up.

It's the rubble that's going to mature your faith.

It's the rubble that's going to develop you.

It's the rubble that's going to train you and mold you to being the kind of person

that finishes the wall.

It's the rubble in our life.

And so God is saying, if you want to make a full comeback,

if you want this to be your comeback year in some area of your life,

then there is some rubble.

There may be some stones that need to be moved out of your life.

There's some work that's got to be done.

But if you will commit today to say, I'm willing to put in the work,

I'm willing to do what it takes.

I'm willing, then God says, if you will deal with that,

I will give you the mental, spiritual, and physical fortitude to get it done.

You're not in this by yourself. Hallelujah, somebody.

You're not in this all by yourself.

Why? Because he promised never to leave us nor forsake us.

He promised I will be with you even to the end of the age.

I've got good news for you today.

If you're willing to clear the rubble, God will bring you out of that rubble.

God will bring you out of where you are and place you in a whole new destiny.

I've got news for you today.

Your destiny is not to stay in the rubble for the rest of your life.

Your destiny is to rise up and build.

Someone say, arise.

Come on, somebody say, arise.

Someone say, build.

Rise and build.

This is what God has called us to do.

Each and every one of us is to arise and build.

Rise and build.

And here's the thing.

There's no good character, Sam Baldwin.

In his questioning of the people of God,

his own words were turned against him because he asked the question,

can they revive the stones?

It was a devious question,

but a question that needed an answer nonetheless.

Can they revive the stones?

And the only way to answer this question is to continue to build.

As they cleared the rubble, Nehemiah, we read in Nehemiah 4.15,

it says, now when our enemies heard that it was known to us

that God, because this is what God will do,

he had frustrated their plan. Hallelujah.

Then all of us returned to the wall.

And each one to his worker.

We began to deal with the rubble.

We started clearing the rubble, and then we got back to work.

But the question today is how did the people do it?

What materials did they use to build the wall?

Get the other mic ready for me, brother.

What did they do to restore these walls?

Hallelujah.

Let me show you a picture of what they did,

because Nehemiah, with all that rubble, someone say the rubble.

Say it again, say the rubble.

Remember I told you the rubble is not your enemy.

The rubble is your friend.

I'm going to tell you how the rubble is your friend,

because Nehemiah did not tell the people throw the rubble away.

He didn't say the rubble was trash.

They cleared the rubble, they didn't throw away the rubble.

You know why?

Because even the rubble had value.

You know how they were going to rebuild that wall that was around Jerusalem?

With the rubble.

Where do you think they got the stones to rebuild the wall?

Hmm.

They did this project.

You know how long it took them?

Like 52 or 54 days, and they were done.

They didn't have time to go to a mountain and cut stones from a quarry.

They used the very same rubble that was there.

My God.

Let me share this story with you right here.

After World War II, Warsaw, Poland was almost completely demolished.

85% of the city's historic center was in ruins.

It was decimated.

The buildings were brought down.

And along with that, the spirits of the people, their morale, and their hopes.

So the residents of Warsaw immediately got to work clearing the rubble

and starting to rebuild their city.

And it's interesting because they didn't have any blueprints of these buildings.

So you know what they did?

They took old paintings, famous paintings of their city as blueprints.

Whew.

And they started to rebuild it.

By 1955, most of Warsaw's old town was rebuilt.

But construction lasted well into the 80s.

Today, Warsaw is a thriving city with a story to tell within its walls.

That's because the rubble, the same stones and fragments that were left over

from the war-torn city was reused to rebuild the structures again.

The same fragments from the original buildings that were blown apart by the enemy

were the same stones that they put back into the buildings to rebuild the wall.

The same thing happened in Jerusalem and the same thing is happening today.

My God.

Oh, I wish I had a witness here this afternoon.

God is taking what you think is damaged, what you think is unusable, what you think is broken.

God will take that and redeem it for His glory.

Would you stand with me this afternoon?

God will take what you think has no value, what you think is worthless,

what you think is damaged, what you think is too far gone.

God will take those very things to rebuild and redeem for His glory.

You see, God specializes.

He turns tragedies into trophies.

He turns ashes into beauty.

He turns mourning into dancing.

He turns mistakes into miracles.

He turns what's left into something glorious.

I've come to encourage somebody here today.

I've come to tell somebody here this afternoon that you can come out of the rubble,

the rubble of your past, the rubble of what's broken.

If you will simply put your hands to the work, if you will simply do your part today,

God will raise you up!