Just a quick, little reminder: please read chapter 2 first on your own! :) I would hate for you to miss what God wants to tell you because you are influenced by me.
Here are my thoughts on Nehemiah Chapter 1 in case you missed them.
Nehemiah's courage and wisdom is inspiring in chapter two.
Without further ado, here is today's devotional.
I just want to camp here for a second. I am so curious about Nehemiah the person. What was his personality like? What was it like for him to work for the king? When did he begin to have a personal relationship with God? I honestly want to meet him when I get to heaven, and just get to know this courageous man and tell him that God used his story to inspire me and guide me.
I also think it's astonishing that God is working in our lives even though we don't see it at all sometimes. There is an older praise song and the first lyrics are "You dance over me while I am unaware." I find it so amazing. We go about our lives, with a very myopic vision (Mostly, in my case, it's all about me.) BUT GOD, in His omniscience and omnipotence, orchestrates each of our lives in ways we could not begin to believe if He showed us the end from the beginning.
I can look back and see examples of that in my own life, and I'm sure you can, too. I will share one example here. I was born in southern California, but when I was eleven we moved to a small town in southern Illinois. My dream was to return to California and the big-city lifestyle that I missed. My ticket to doing that was college. The only college I knew in southern California was UCLA. I got my A.S. degree in Illinois and applied to UCLA. I did not even have a personal relationship with God yet, but I remember praying feverishly and incessantly for several months that God would allow me to go to UCLA. I was desperate to get back to California--I missed my grandparents and my cousins a lot. My prayers were purely selfish: I had my own selfish reasons for wanting to come to California, BUT GOD in His eternal wisdom had a much bigger and more eternal reason for allowing me to come to California, reasons that I could not begin to understand until He began showing me several years later. It was here that I met the people who would eventually guide me into a life-changing personal relationship with God. MY purpose was to get back to family and escape the inquisitorial ways of small-town life. HIS purpose was MUCH bigger than that. He was "dancing over me while I was unaware" because, unbeknownst to me, HE was the one who planted within me the desire to return to southern California so that I could know Him better and accept Him as Lord of my life.
That is exactly what happened with Nehemiah. We don't know if he desired the position of cupbearer (we DO know that it was a coveted position with many privileges and good pay). When he became cupbearer he probably thanked God and put a period on the blessing. God put a comma, because He was not done; He was planning to use that blessing for the greater good of the Jewish people.
God is constantly dancing over us while we are unaware. Sometimes I wonder as I'm going about my day, what is God setting up even now that I can't imagine or begin to see? :)
Here is the song I was referring to: ("Amazed" by Lincoln Brewster)
I love verses two and three: "So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, ..." He was freaking out inside, BUT he did it. He shoved his fears aside and obeyed God in spite of them. Joyce Meyers had a saying several years ago that has stuck with me: "Do it scared." Three simple words, yet so profound to me. I have always believed that fear is a sign of extreme weakness, that I'm never supposed to be scared--I'm always supposed to overcome the fear to the point that I feel like I can conquer anything. The "chick flick" Bounce has a quote that is very similar: "It's not brave if you're not scared."
I think I'm beginning to understand (maybe a little bit late in life, but better late than never!) that God does not see fear as a weakness; He understands that fear is a normal, human emotion. Psalm 103:14 comes to mind. However, He does desire that we "do it scared." He probably feels disappointed to some extent when we do not rise to the occasion and conquer that fear because we are missing out on a blessing that He has for us. I like to picture Him standing next to me when I am overcome with fear, cheering me on with a smile on His lovely face and uttering the perfect words of encouragement to my soul. I think God is our biggest "cheerleader" in life, but I never see Him because I never look for Him when He's next to me, cheering me on.
I also love verses four and five: "Then the king said to me, 'What do you request?' So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said, ..."
He is still scared, even though he has spent many hours in prayer about this very moment. His response is so inspiring: immediately, right there in the moment, he prays to "the God of heaven." Haven't you done that before? Right in the moment to stop and say a one- or two-sentence prayer seeking God's divine intervention? It just builds up courage to remind ourselves in a petrifying situation that God is still in control. He has our back. Nehemiah inspires me to do this more often--to make stopping and praying in the moment a "holy habit." I love that phrase--I learned it in my Beth Moore study.
Then I love the end of chapter 2 (verses 19-20): "But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?' So I answered them, and said to them, 'The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.'"
So encouraging because I really hate when people laugh at me or despise me or misunderstand me. I tend to shrink in fear and discouragement. I love that he immediately answers them back, and his response puts the focus on God, not his enemies, and not even himself. His response oozes with confidence that his God will prosper them, and that his enemies will not prosper in their attempts to thwart the rebuilding process.
Again, I would welcome any thoughts or revelations that God shared with you! :)
Here are my thoughts on Nehemiah Chapter 1 in case you missed them.
Nehemiah's courage and wisdom is inspiring in chapter two.
Without further ado, here is today's devotional.
Divine Design:
Nehemiah knows that God has called him to supervise the rebuilding of Jerusalem (I am convinced that during his "many days" of fasting and praying in Nehemiah 1, God gave him a vision of His plan for Nehemiah). I also believe firmly that God positioned him as cupbearer to allow him a somewhat intimate relationship with the king so that the king's heart would be open to Nehemiah's request.I just want to camp here for a second. I am so curious about Nehemiah the person. What was his personality like? What was it like for him to work for the king? When did he begin to have a personal relationship with God? I honestly want to meet him when I get to heaven, and just get to know this courageous man and tell him that God used his story to inspire me and guide me.
I also think it's astonishing that God is working in our lives even though we don't see it at all sometimes. There is an older praise song and the first lyrics are "You dance over me while I am unaware." I find it so amazing. We go about our lives, with a very myopic vision (Mostly, in my case, it's all about me.) BUT GOD, in His omniscience and omnipotence, orchestrates each of our lives in ways we could not begin to believe if He showed us the end from the beginning.
I can look back and see examples of that in my own life, and I'm sure you can, too. I will share one example here. I was born in southern California, but when I was eleven we moved to a small town in southern Illinois. My dream was to return to California and the big-city lifestyle that I missed. My ticket to doing that was college. The only college I knew in southern California was UCLA. I got my A.S. degree in Illinois and applied to UCLA. I did not even have a personal relationship with God yet, but I remember praying feverishly and incessantly for several months that God would allow me to go to UCLA. I was desperate to get back to California--I missed my grandparents and my cousins a lot. My prayers were purely selfish: I had my own selfish reasons for wanting to come to California, BUT GOD in His eternal wisdom had a much bigger and more eternal reason for allowing me to come to California, reasons that I could not begin to understand until He began showing me several years later. It was here that I met the people who would eventually guide me into a life-changing personal relationship with God. MY purpose was to get back to family and escape the inquisitorial ways of small-town life. HIS purpose was MUCH bigger than that. He was "dancing over me while I was unaware" because, unbeknownst to me, HE was the one who planted within me the desire to return to southern California so that I could know Him better and accept Him as Lord of my life.
That is exactly what happened with Nehemiah. We don't know if he desired the position of cupbearer (we DO know that it was a coveted position with many privileges and good pay). When he became cupbearer he probably thanked God and put a period on the blessing. God put a comma, because He was not done; He was planning to use that blessing for the greater good of the Jewish people.
God is constantly dancing over us while we are unaware. Sometimes I wonder as I'm going about my day, what is God setting up even now that I can't imagine or begin to see? :)
Here is the song I was referring to: ("Amazed" by Lincoln Brewster)
Courage:
I love Nehemiah's transparency in this chapter. It is so easy for me to put Biblical characters on a pedestal. Nehemiah's transparency allows me not to do that. Even though he had prayed to God immediately preceding this interaction with the king (see Nehemiah 1:11), he was still extremely afraid and is not ashamed to admit it. That alone demands courage, especially from a man.I love verses two and three: "So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, ..." He was freaking out inside, BUT he did it. He shoved his fears aside and obeyed God in spite of them. Joyce Meyers had a saying several years ago that has stuck with me: "Do it scared." Three simple words, yet so profound to me. I have always believed that fear is a sign of extreme weakness, that I'm never supposed to be scared--I'm always supposed to overcome the fear to the point that I feel like I can conquer anything. The "chick flick" Bounce has a quote that is very similar: "It's not brave if you're not scared."
I think I'm beginning to understand (maybe a little bit late in life, but better late than never!) that God does not see fear as a weakness; He understands that fear is a normal, human emotion. Psalm 103:14 comes to mind. However, He does desire that we "do it scared." He probably feels disappointed to some extent when we do not rise to the occasion and conquer that fear because we are missing out on a blessing that He has for us. I like to picture Him standing next to me when I am overcome with fear, cheering me on with a smile on His lovely face and uttering the perfect words of encouragement to my soul. I think God is our biggest "cheerleader" in life, but I never see Him because I never look for Him when He's next to me, cheering me on.
I also love verses four and five: "Then the king said to me, 'What do you request?' So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said, ..."
He is still scared, even though he has spent many hours in prayer about this very moment. His response is so inspiring: immediately, right there in the moment, he prays to "the God of heaven." Haven't you done that before? Right in the moment to stop and say a one- or two-sentence prayer seeking God's divine intervention? It just builds up courage to remind ourselves in a petrifying situation that God is still in control. He has our back. Nehemiah inspires me to do this more often--to make stopping and praying in the moment a "holy habit." I love that phrase--I learned it in my Beth Moore study.
Then I love the end of chapter 2 (verses 19-20): "But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us, and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king?' So I answered them, and said to them, 'The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build, but you have no heritage or right or memorial in Jerusalem.'"
So encouraging because I really hate when people laugh at me or despise me or misunderstand me. I tend to shrink in fear and discouragement. I love that he immediately answers them back, and his response puts the focus on God, not his enemies, and not even himself. His response oozes with confidence that his God will prosper them, and that his enemies will not prosper in their attempts to thwart the rebuilding process.
Again, I would welcome any thoughts or revelations that God shared with you! :)
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