For three and a half years our local church building remained half constructed and a matter of heartache and shame for us. This is the only church building in our city and we have proudly kept the unity of one body.
Three and a half years ago we realized the need for a much bigger church building. My husband David Lall, an elder and treasurer of the local congregation, was unanimously chosen to lead the building project.
Sadly two fallen members of our congregation left to join Hindu extremist groups and took our church council to court on fabricated accusations. We won our case at the district court and the state court, but were appalled to learn these two families used their political influence to appeal to the Supreme Court of India. By God’s grace the Supreme Court sent the case back to the state court where we received permission to complete the building process. During this trial we studied the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and the whole congregation worked alongside the construction laborers. We consider ourselves blessed to have had this experience that gave us an opportunity in a small way to feel as Nehemiah and the Israelites must have felt.
Confession and Repentance
Some Christians get too comfortable taking God and his grace for granted. We think the words “repentance” and “confession of sins” are too old fashioned and below our dignity. But look at Nehemiah in a wealthy king’s court, a faithful and highly regarded servant—yet he cried out that he and his forefathers had sinned against God. We must confess and repent every day for ourselves and on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
God Is in Control
Any time we want to do good, we face problems. But God is our wonderful counselor who upholds us with his righteous right hand (see Isaiah 41:10, 11). This is God’s promise. We desperately need motivators like Nehemiah, but let’s never forget our greatest motivator is Jesus and we have to fix our eyes on him all the days of our lives (Hebrews 12: 2-9). |L
Dr. Sheela Lall is a native missionary in India. She helps direct Mid India Christian Mission and is principal of Dr. Vijai Lall Memorial College. Sheela and her husband David have three children.
