~Old Testament Scenarios~
Nehemiah
"When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.
For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed
before the God of heaven."
Nehemiah 1:4 (NIV)
“Bad News Travels Fast”
Interrupted by unsuspected news. Rattled by a staggering message. What kind of report was it that Nehemiah received to which the information would attempt to steal the very strength he needed to stand? For just a brief moment in time, do you think he felt that God had forsaken His promise to protect His beloved children? We don’t know Nehemiah’s first inward and private thoughts, we only can read what he visibly showed and how he reacted to this news. Nehemiah was in the capital of Shushan and surrounded by all the opulence and wealth a king’s court will offer. He enjoyed the easy life in the winter palace provided. Despite all of this, the upsetting news pierced his very soul. Have you been there? Have you experienced living in great comfort when all of sudden you receive news that shakes your very soul? Then you realize, no amount of wealth or earthly comforts matter anymore because what you need most of all is the comfort and presence of our Lord. I love how the Holy Spirit will pierce a man’s heart with a hunger and thirst for the Living God and nothing else will do.
Nehemiah, the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes, was a man born after the Jewish people had been invaded by the Babylonians. Their city and temple had been utterly destroyed with gates burned and walls left in ruin. Then, after a 70 year captivity, each person was given the opportunity to return again to their mother land to rebuild. But even after more than 75 years, the city and its people were left defenseless and vulnerable with no walls to protect them. Nehemiah had asked about the “news back home”. You need to remember the “Christmas-type letters” we have come to know (the ones that recap a family’s year) had not yet begun. News traveled a bit slower back in 445BC.
Although Nehemiah had never been to Jerusalem (he was born in captivity), this news of the desperate state the city was in burdened not only his heart, but his whole body. Similar to the heart of Nehemiah, do we ache for nations that are in ruin? Does our heart go out for the lost with that same intensity? Whatever breaks the heart of our Lord should also break our own. Nehemiah’s interest was not on himself and all his comforts. His burned with a passion to fast and pray to seek His God for answers. How often do we fast/weep/pray for those we’ve never met? Nehemiah was seeking God for answers, and God was preparing him to be the answer! It was the Lord’s will to place Nehemiah in a close position of serving the king. It was also God’s will to work in the heart of a king to allow Nehemiah to travel over 900 miles and lead the reconstruction of the city walls. Nehemiah is a wonderful example of a leader who truly had a heart and passion for the Lord. He showed us that he would not be distracted from the vision the Lord had given him. He stayed the course, kept the focus even as others would attempt to draw him away with thoughts to kill him. Nehemiah lays all his hope and trust in his YAHWEH… his Lord, because he knew to lean on the promises God had for His own chosen people.
This is your day; God has given it to you. What will you do with it? Will you take God at His word, believe His promises, and be open to His vision for your life? Are you preparing yourself to be an answer to someone’s need?
"I can do everything through him who gives me strength."
Philippians 4:13 (NIV)