Editor’s note: Beginning in April, we invite and encourage our one Loma Linda University Health community to pray and fast together each Tuesday, asking for God’s guidance and wisdom as we continue to build and grow. Below this devotional, find attached a guide to what it means to fast.
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Then I said to them, “You see the bad situation we are in, that Jerusalem is desolate and its gates burned by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no longer be a reproach.” Nehemiah 2:17
It was approximately 630 days ago that we announced to the Loma Linda University Health family that we were about to embark upon a monumental and historic event. I took that invitation very personally and found myself on the lawn by the University Church and Good Samaritan statue amongst a sea of employees, community members, dignitaries, children and the curious who witnessed the launch of Vision 2020. It is indeed an immensely significant undertaking, which will affect our locale, region, nation and the world.
This undertaking is similar to Nehemiah’s, who, upon arrival to Jerusalem, surveyed the desolation and damage caused by the fires of its conquerors. It looked bleak and foreboding. To exacerbate the challenges, there were individuals who were displeased with Nehemiah’s mission and orders. Soon after he settled in, the cupbearer-turned-leader under the cover of night, assessed the extent of the rebuilding project. The vision of a reconstructed wall surrounding the city that Nehemiah shared with the inhabitants was daunting and colossal.
Over 40, 401 days ago Loma Linda Sanitarium was incorporated in response to the visionary leadership of another ordinary person, Ellen G. White. The acquisition of the property required faith, tenacity and prayer. We will continue to fast and pray as a community each week for God’s presence, wisdom and power to equip each of us as we participate in the continuation of the fulfillment of this vision. This may seem impossible and untenable based our limited knowledge of how or why decisions have been made in your department, school, program or office.
As we move forward as a one Loma Linda University Health family, we are invited to accept the invitation to build and rebuild. Yes, we are watching new construction all around our various campuses, but that is not what I am referring to. We need to build or repair our faith and rebuild broken relationships. When we do this together through prayer, forgiveness and consistent dialogue, God will be glorified. We have been placed on the hill to bless our community, county, nation and the world. In the words of Nehemiah, “Come, let us do this together.”
Dilys Brooks, MDiv
Associate campus chaplain
Loma Linda University
