By Rev. Daniel Yaw 
 
INTRODUCTION
Last month I wrote around the idea of new year and this month is another new year – the Chinese New Year, on the 1st February.
 
Thinking of that, I wish all of you a very happy, God-blessed and God-provided prosperous new year.  That is a long greeting, I must say and a mouthful one too.
 
Nonetheless we acknowledge that all good things come from the Lord indeed.
 
As I thought of that – here is another new year wish for the church and all of us.  I was doing my meditation from the book of Nehemiah.  Nehemiah was a very interesting character, especially so when it comes to leadership and on top of that, he was just a “marketplace” leader serving the king of Persia.  And yet here was a man who saw many things through God’s perspective in that all that he did was to the glory of God.  He was truly a spiritual leader in every sense of the word.
 
As he served the Lord, in wanting to see the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem that laid in ruins, he sought the Lord and the Lord brought success in his life.  At the very beginning, these were the words recorded for us:
"And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good, and also the words that the king had spoken to me.  And they said, "Let us rise up and build" (2:17-18)
 
The Hand of the LORD
The challenge ahead of us is great.  With the pandemic and new variants - we all wonder when will all these end?  On top of that is the recent flood that hit the land that has destroyed the livelihood of many.  And certainly we do not know what is going to happen next.
 
As I looked at the scenario, I asked the Lord, "Can we rise up to the challenge today?" 
 
I was sitting back a few days ago and wondered where does hope lie.  I have been preaching HOPE and LIFE in this season and so did many churches today.  How does that play out?
 
I came out of it saying, "unless the Lord works, the world has little hope indeed."  We can only work when God works.  The psalmist in 127, says, “unless the Lord builds the house, those who build, labor in vain…” 
 
This is where the message of Nehemiah comes into play.  Despite all the challenges - which were great - the derision about the rebuilding was bad, the despondency of the people was high, the discouragement of Sanballat and Tobiah was persistent - only God must work.
 
Nehemiah said, "the hand of my God that had been upon me for good....".  May we all seek the hand of God upon our lives today.
 
Let us rise up and build
While the Lord works, while He blesses, while He guides, while He provides, our part today is to rise up and build.  For the people of Israel, the only motivation to rise up and rebuild was because of the Lord’s hand upon them. 
 
The same principle applies and if I may draw an application from that, let us also rise up and build because God’s hand will be upon us.

Literally, our new church is being rebuilt and we are indeed to rise up to the challenge to work alongside with the Holy Spirit to be the beacon and light for the people of Bukit Mertajam. What is there to rise up and rebuild?

1. Let us rebuild our relationship with God our Father
2. Let us rebuild our relationship with loved ones to bring them to the Lord
3. Let us “build” new relationship with the people God placed in our path who are looking for direction and purpose.
4. Let us rebuild broken bridges with those whom we have known and probably forgotten.
5. Let us be the agents to rebuild hope in the lives of others.

WE can only do all of the above – because the Lord’s hand will be upon us.
 
CONCLUSION
May this new year be a year of rising up in our faith, and building up relationships that are vital in our lives.  Have a wonderful and a prosperous new year.