It has been a while since I've posted anything on here. Life has been crazy and busy on this side of the screen.
In that time though, I've found quite a bit of inspiration to write about here, thoughts to dump, wisdom to pass on. One such piece of inspiration was in my memories on Facebook from two years ago. I saw it and decided to expand a little bit on it... The original post was this:
In the book of Nehemiah, we see heartache and discouragement as the children of Israel are coping with the loss of their home and the desecration of their beloved city of Jerusalem. But this is more than just a low time; it is a set up for faith and trust, as so many situations in the Bible are. Nehemiah was a cup-bearer to the king of Persia when he learned of the horrors that had befallen the holy city. He was devastated at the news, and he could not hide his grief from the king, who asked him what was wrong. When Nehemiah told him the reason behind his low countenance, the king asked what it was he wanted. This is the first test of faith and trust in this story. Nehemiah prayed to God in that moment, and asked the king for permission to leave the kingdom and travel to Jerusalem to rebuild his ancestral city. Now, the king could have refused and made Nehemiah stay. But he didn't. Instead, he asked how long he would be without his trusted cup-bearer. Nehemiah made arrangements with the king to leave, and left for Jerusalem with letters of safe passage and soldiers in his possession.
The king didn't have to let him leave; he didn't even have to send soldiers with him. Yet he did. In fact, this particular king was known to be a more compassionate king than most others were; that's not to say he didn't have a temper, though. So, it is because of his kinder heart, and the favor which he bestowed upon Nehemiah (which I will talk about in a moment) that he allowed his cup-bearer to leave with the assurances of safe travel and supplies.
Now, for the favor of the king. For a person to win the favor of the king was, and is, a high honor not experienced by many people. To possess this favor is to have a closer relationship with the king than all but the advisors and the queen. And to be the royal cup-bearer meant that a person was trustworthy and could be relied upon (for those who aren't quite sure what a cup-bearer did, he would serve the royal drinks and taste them for poison to ensure the king was not threatened). Nehemiah didn't just wake up one day and discover he had the favor of the king; he worked to earn it, proving himself trustworthy and dependable. That in itself says a lot about his character. And judging from the way he interacted with the king in this very brief bit of scripture, he had a good relationship with the king, although I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a personal relationship. So what exactly does this mean for the story? Well, as I said in my original post, God provides what you need when you need it. So what I see happening here is God placed Nehemiah in the position to catch the attention of the king, long before Nehemiah himself knew he would need it. He didn't rise to this prestigious position by accident; he rose because it was God's plan for him to rise. God turned the king's eyes to Nehemiah so that he, and not some other servant, could be in a place of honor that would allow him to lead the Israelites in rebuilding Jerusalem. As Nehemiah himself said "And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests." God does not allow accidents to happen; everything happens because it is supposed to happen.
There is one part of this story that I love, and it shows Nehemiah's strength of will and his determination. It happens at the end of the second chapter. Here are the verses:
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. “What is this you are doing?” they asked. “Are you rebelling against the king?”
20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.”
Look at how Nehemiah responds to this challenge. He doesn't back down; he doesn't leave; he doesn't even try to reason with them. He steps up to the challenge and claims the authority of heaven to rebuild the walls. But what I love most comes after it. He essentially tells them they are trespassing, that they don't belong on that sacred ground. In no way is Nehemiah timid about this claim. I imagine him saying the first part of his response calmly, and as he begins to reference them his tone starts getting more fierce and his posture becoming more menacing, defending the ground which God gave to his ancestors and upon which he would rebuild what had been destroyed.
This is somewhat of a constant theme throughout the building process. Someone will challenge or doubt Nehemiah's actions and intentions, and Nehemiah will tell them that God is in control of this and He is the only one Who can say what will happen. Throughout all of these events Nehemiah never stops trusting God, he never loses his faith. He believed God would send him what he needed when he needed it, who he needed when he needed them. It was this belief, this trust, this faith that inspired the children of Israel to rebuild their wall.
So, what can we learn from Nehemiah? Three things: Listen to what God puts on your heart and never let it go; trust that He will provide what you need to accomplish what He puts on your heart to do; and to never pass an opportunity that may possibly lead to greater things.
Nehemiah listened to God's calling to rebuild the wall. He didn't simply push it to the back burner and think that someone else would do it. No, he acted and didn't back down once he started.
Once he decided to follow God's direction, he never lost faith that everything would be provided. From the bricks for the wall to the timber for the gates to his house to water and food for the people, he trusted that God would provide exactly what was needed. This can be seen when he petitions for different letters from the king for safe passage and for supplies; he trusted that he would receive what was needed.
Nehemiah didn't see his time in Persia as a terrible thing. In fact he made sure he flourished there. This is made clear in the fact that he was the king's cup-bearer. He didn't just sit around and wait for a divine sign to appear in the sky; he made himself worthy of the king's attention and worked his way up the ranks to a trusted position by the king's side. How can we apply this to today? Simple. Don't let yourself be one of a crowd, don't blend in. Instead, let yourself stand out and shine, make yourself worthy of the attention of others. You never know, it could take you places you never thought were possible. Trust God, and He will make your path straight and guide you to where He wants you to be.
That's all I have for now. If you have anything you'd like to add to this, or any other comments, please put them in the comment section!
Go make yourself shine!
No comments:
Post a Comment