Nehemiah 2:1-5
Have you ever had a time in your life when you are doing something, but your mind is elsewhere? Sitting at work and thinking of your family at home? For me, this tends to happen most when I am driving (which is not always safe) and I drift into my own thoughts of things I need to do, conversations I had that day, or just thinking about the game last weekend. The next thing you know, you have reached your destination, and you do not have any real memory of driving there at all. All of us I believe, experienced what Nehemiah is experiencing. He is at work doing his job for the king, but his heart is heavy and his mind is elsewhere. There is a burden on his heart about the city of his ancestors lies in destruction. He is so sad in his heart that he is wearing it on his face, and the king notices. This seems to me that it was probably a terrifying moment because now Nehemiah's problems are distracting the king. It feels almost like when you “bring your problems” to work, and now your boss is noticing that you are distracted. Only it was a king who, and it was not tolerated in his presence at all. Sometimes things happen in our lives that are just hard to handle. We are so fortunate to have a God and a church that is here for us in our time of need! The most amazing thing to me in this passage is Nehemiah’s response to the whole circumstance. Nehemiah became afraid, acted in respect to the authority (the king), then prayed before formulating a full response! He prayed! In the time that his burden was heavy and he was scared of what could happen to him in the moment, Nehemiah prayed to God. We are not told what exactly he prayed for, but it was a brief prayer to God to help Nehemiah in this moment. When our burdens are heavy, we can always go to God! We can always look to God in any circumstance and remember that He is the ultimate authority over all and is always with us. Nehemiah remembered this, went to God, and God was there for him. If you have heavy burdens, anxieties, or things going on in your life that make it difficult to go through your day-to-day. Remember God is with you, and go to him in prayer.
Have you ever had a time in your life when you are doing something, but your mind is elsewhere? Sitting at work and thinking of your family at home? For me, this tends to happen most when I am driving (which is not always safe) and I drift into my own thoughts of things I need to do, conversations I had that day, or just thinking about the game last weekend. The next thing you know, you have reached your destination, and you do not have any real memory of driving there at all. All of us I believe, experienced what Nehemiah is experiencing. He is at work doing his job for the king, but his heart is heavy and his mind is elsewhere. There is a burden on his heart about the city of his ancestors lies in destruction. He is so sad in his heart that he is wearing it on his face, and the king notices. This seems to me that it was probably a terrifying moment because now Nehemiah's problems are distracting the king. It feels almost like when you “bring your problems” to work, and now your boss is noticing that you are distracted. Only it was a king who, and it was not tolerated in his presence at all. Sometimes things happen in our lives that are just hard to handle. We are so fortunate to have a God and a church that is here for us in our time of need! The most amazing thing to me in this passage is Nehemiah’s response to the whole circumstance. Nehemiah became afraid, acted in respect to the authority (the king), then prayed before formulating a full response! He prayed! In the time that his burden was heavy and he was scared of what could happen to him in the moment, Nehemiah prayed to God. We are not told what exactly he prayed for, but it was a brief prayer to God to help Nehemiah in this moment. When our burdens are heavy, we can always go to God! We can always look to God in any circumstance and remember that He is the ultimate authority over all and is always with us. Nehemiah remembered this, went to God, and God was there for him. If you have heavy burdens, anxieties, or things going on in your life that make it difficult to go through your day-to-day. Remember God is with you, and go to him in prayer.
Posted in Devotional