“Then I said to them, ‘You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.’ I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.’ So they began this good work.” Nehemiah 2:17-18 NIV
Nehemiah had a genuine concern for God’s people and a deep desire to help. Though he was afraid to present his request of leave for the sole purpose of helping the Jews to king Artaxerxes (verse 2), his desire to help trumped his fear. It was his intense desire that eventually led to the organization of the people in the rebuilding of the city wall.
What I found interesting is that the Jews were living in their ruins, but they were not doing anything about it. It took Nehemiah to travel out to Jerusalem so that he could encourage the people to rebuild their city, and to remind them of the gracious hand of God.
This reminded me that though prayer comes first, as it did with Nehemiah, it should also be accompanied with work. Nehemiah needed to prevail (work) over his fear of making his request known to king Artaxerxes, he needed to present letters of acceptance from the king to the neighbouring governors allowing his travel and required supplies for the rebuild, and he needed to prevail upon his own people in order for them to join him in this good work.
May we be encouraged to not only make our requests known to our gracious God, but to also have the desire as Nehemiah did, and be prepared to go out and do His good work.
Lock Your Wings 
Good thoughts.
This stood out for me: “but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.””
Nehemiah 2:3 NLT
Standard social greeting: “How are you?”
Standard social answer “fine” or “good”
Admitting we are not well, sad, discouraged, hurt, lonely, etc. is often looked at as a weakness. No one wants to admit they don’t have it all together. We like to pretend things are ok when they aren’t. It takes real courage to admit we are not doing well. Nehemiah’s honesty with the king allowed him to heal his sadness by making a plan of action. His vulnerability prompted permission and resources to fix the situation that was causing so much angst. May be have the courage to be honest so that we can find what we need too.
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Great thoughts.
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