“In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year,
while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah
with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had
survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
They said to me,
“Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble
and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been
burned with fire.”
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 1:1-4
What distresses you?
Is it a loss by
your favorite sports team?
Maybe the T.V.
show you watch religiously just got cancelled.
While those
things might be important to you they pale in comparison to what distressed the
Nehemiah.
He wept, he
mourned, fasted and prayed concerning the City of Jerusalem and the state that
it was in.
He brought his
distress to the God of heaven.
You can read his
prayer in verses 5-10 of chapter one and I encourage you to do so.
When was the
last time you were distressed over the things of God?
When have you
earnestly interceded on behalf of Gods’ church?
Nehemiah’s
intercession didn’t just consist of a:
‘tsk,
tsk, what a sad state of affairs your people find themselves in’
kind of
declaration.
Instead he asked
God to give him favor when he went before the king he served as cupbearer; in
order that he might go home and begin to rebuild.
He did more than
just recognize a problem or give voice to complaints.
He offered
himself as part of the solution.
Its’ very easy
to be distressed when things at home, at work or in the church are not right.
It’s a bit
tougher to pray the prayer that Nehemiah offered:
Lord use me.
I would
challenge you this week to not be so quick to just recognize a problem.
Go before God in
prayer and ask Him to use you as part of the solution.
Maybe you don’t
know what to do, who to talk to or where to begin.
Begin by coming
to God and humbly offering yourself.
Who knows what
God can and will do through such a surrendered vessel.
Offer yourself
God, willing to become part of the solution.
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