Girls with Dirty Fingernails
By Natalie Williams
“We will rebuild!” cried Shallum, bursting through the door in a flurry of excitement.
“Rebuild what?” said Adabelle.
“The wall!”
“The wall?” Davina asked, “As in… our wall?”
“Yes! Yes! The wall of Jerusalem! Our glorious city will be established once more, my daughters. Rejoice with me!” He laughed and spun all three girls around until they collapsed against the wall, breathless.
“I can’t even imagine what it will look like!” said Jaleesa. “There has been no wall for generations! Isn’t that right, Father?”
“For 141 years,” he replied, smiling down at her.
“But… will the king of Persia even allow this?”Adabelle asked. A huge grin spread across Shallum’s face.
“Our Lord has surely gone before us! The king has given us far more than mere permission - he has sent Nehemiah here himself to lead us in this great work. Many of the officials are agreed.” Shallum rose to his feet. “We will rebuild!”
“Let us help!” Davina cried, pulling the other girls up, “Come, sisters! This is too great an opportunity to miss!”
“Yes! We will help you build, Father!”
Guys… if you’re reading this, I encourage you to find a daughter of Shallum - a woman of God who is not afraid of some hard work in pursuing His purpose. Girls… I hope you have resolved to get some dirt under your fingernails as you roll up your sleeves for God’s kingdom! The only specific mention of women in the book of Nehemiah is the image we find of Shallum’s resolute daughters in Nehemiah 3:12: “And next to him was Shallum the son of Hallohesh, leader of half the district of Jerusalem; he and his daughters made repairs.”
Presumably, wall building isn’t high on most girls’ lists of hobbies. It’s a daunting, dirty, hot, job – difficult even for a man, and one that would certainly set these young ladies apart from others their age. Making their father’s work and vision their own, and working beside him even under threat of attack (see chapter four) was no doubt an unpopular choice that may have caused some gossip. This would especially be true of a high profile family like Shallum’s. “Leader of half the district of Jerusalem” sounds like a pretty important title. He and his daughters certainly could have used his position as an excuse not to join in this dangerous, labor-intensive work. In fact, Nehemiah 3:5 mentions some nobles who did just that, sending others to rebuild while they themselves “did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.”
Instead, Shallum’s daughters drew motivation from their father’s example and found their way to the forefront of what God was doing. Even before the work began, they decided that what was worthy of their father’s effort was also worthy of theirs. They literally got in on the ground floor of God’s Jerusalem Wall venture. In the business world, this means jumping at the chance to invest in something because you perceive its value before seeing the results. Ground floor investors are risk-takers. While they may lose if it fails, they may also gain exponentially more than those who join in after the venture succeeds. This is exactly what Shallum’s daughters did. They said, “This is good. This is important to us. We want in!”
Right here is the best part, though: by investing themselves in this good work, Shallum’s daughters earned their own personal heritage (Nehemiah 2:20). We find no mention of mother, brothers, husbands, or friends. Their father’s vision and the vision of their people as a collective is what drew an active response from these ladies. They didn’t sit back and watch their father do all the work so they could reap future benefits. They didn’t wait till they grew up, got married, and moved out to achieve God’s purpose. Imagine their satisfaction after having played a role in reviving the future of their nation! Had they chosen not to partake in their father’s vision, what would they have missed? The wall still would’ve been built. The city would’ve been restored. Yet their personal heritage would be lacking, and the element of growth and development that comes from laboring in God’s plan would be markedly missing.
How about you? Are you missing out on what God has for you? Are you holding back because you think someone else can do that ministry better, or because it looks like there are plenty of other people going on that outreach, or because you could never be an influence for God like those seasoned saints in the prayer room? Or… because you are a girl? Read your Bible: Many godly women have thrown themselves into God’s work and have brought about great blessing for His people and for their families.
I encourage you to remember that God is not intimidated by what you may or may not be able to do – remember, He chose you and has put gifts and desires within you so that you may find the vision of your spiritual Father and use those deposits for Him. If you sit on your hands, God’s plan and purpose will continue to move forward without you, but you will surely miss out. If He has put a stirring in your heart, it is because He wants you involved in the work. You can spend all your time doing good things and still miss out on the best God has for you if you hold back from doing your utmost.
Take a proactive approach to your destiny. Get your hands dirty with ministry. Wage war in prayer. Place yourself where God can use you. No effort could be more worthy of a woman’s passion and energy than throwing herself wholeheartedly into the pursuit of her Father’s vision.