德成陈博士

DAILY REFLECTION
17 Aug 2026

“Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’”Nehemiah 2:17

There are seasons in life when something we have treasured suddenly lies broken before us. A loved one is gone. A dream is shattered. A ministry struggles. The future we once saw clearly becomes uncertain.

I experienced such a season after the sudden passing of my dear friend and ministry partner, Professor Dr Paul Cheng. His death brought deep grief, but it also left Tyrannus Online Seminary (TOS) facing an uncertain future. Important records were inaccessible, much knowledge had been carried personally by Paul, and I found myself wondering whether TOS could continue.

In that season, Nehemiah 2:17 spoke deeply to me.

Nehemiah did not ignore Jerusalem’s broken walls. He acknowledged the painful reality: “You see the trouble we are in.” There is something pastoral and comforting in those words. God does not ask us to pretend that everything is all right. Faith allows us to grieve, to acknowledge our fears and even to admit, “Lord, I do not know what to do.”

But Nehemiah did not stop at the ruins.

He said, “Come, let us rebuild.”

Those words gradually became God’s invitation to me.

In the quiet hours before dawn, I brought my fears and uncertainties to Him. Sometimes there were more tears than words. I did not have all the answers, but I began to understand that I did not need to have them all before taking the next step.

My question slowly changed from “Can I rebuild TOS?” to “Lord, will You help me rebuild?”

And faith began to rise again.

Perhaps today you are standing before your own broken wall. Something precious may have been lost, and you cannot imagine how life can ever be the same again.

Do not be discouraged by the ruins.

God meets us there.

Rebuilding does not mean forgetting what was lost. It means trusting that loss does not have to be the end of the story.

Bring your broken walls to God. Give Him your grief, your fears and your unanswered questions. Then ask Him for grace to pick up the first stone.

“You will rebuild, and what you build this time will be sturdier, because you will have built it knowing exactly what it costs to lose something.” — Georgia Clare