Nehemiah approached the group of dusty men. “How are things in Jerusalem, brothers?”
Hanani placed a hand on Nehemiah’s shoulder. “The folks are back from exile but they’re having a hard time. The walls of the old city are broken down. The gates are burned. It’s a mess.”
Nehemiah’s eyes filled with tears as the men walked away. He went home and let the river flow from his eyes.
“LORD God how can this be? Why won’t somebody fix this for Your name?”
The questions became thoughts then solutions as the days wore on. As the weeks turned to months the time came for Nehemiah to return to his duty as cupbearer to the king of Persia.
He sent up a prayer before he went in to work. “LORD God of heaven. Open Your ears and eyes to this my humble prayer. We have sinned by not following Your decrees and laws as laid out to Moses. You were right in disbursing us as the law said would happen. You also said that if we return to You we would be brought back to the land promised by You. I, my father’s family and the entire country have sinned, I plead with You to hear me now and grant me favor with the king today so I can do what You want me to do.”
******
Nehemiah’s heart was heavy as he approached King Artaxerxes. He set the tray down and drank from the chalice before he handed it to the potentate. He glanced at the queen. She was not smiling.
Artaxerxes leaned forward. “What is troubling you today? I know you’re not sick or they wouldn’t have allowed you here. You’re never this melancholy.”
Nehemiah sent up a silent prayer as he cleared his throat. “Why wouldn’t I be so sad? I discovered that the land of my ancestors lies in ruins. There’s nobody doing anything about it.”
“What do you want from me?”
“If you please, I want to go to Jerusalem to rebuild it.”
Artaxerxes blinked. “How long will you be gone?”
The queen smiled.
Nehemiah leaned forward. “It will take a week or more to get there. I hope to have the walls built in a few months. That will depend on how much help I can get. I should be back in about a year. If I could get you to write letters to the governors along the way to allow safe passage that will help, as well as letters to Asaph to get lumber for the various projects.”
Artaxerxes looked at the servant near the door. “Bring me some parchment and a scribe.”
************
And so begins the book of Nehemiah. A question followed by a grieving and a prayer before an action.
As I spent time with Nehemiah before I wrote this post I had to ask myself, “what would make my heart grieve like this man’s heart did?”
I didn’t have to think long. My heart has been broken every time I hear about abortion, human trafficking, homelessness…the list goes on.
The only king I have to answer to is Father God. The question I ask Him is the same for each ache I experience.
“What do You want me to do about this?”
I know I can’t fix every ailment of society, but I know God can. Yet, He still allows poverty and poor choices to continue.
Fortunately, there are folks driven to take action for each of these crimes against humanity. I can do something to help each of them as I can.
I can write about them to bring awareness. I can donate money and other things as possible. I can give my time occasionally.
The best thing I can do is pray about them. So I do. I pray for more people to get involved. I beg for more resources to be able to help. I ask for strength for the workers on the ground doing all they can.
I pray for the victims and perpetrators to be loved by God to cope and change into productive members of society.
So, where do you fit into this mess?
I ask that question sincerely. What breaks your heart to the point of tears and prayer?
For some it will be focusing on one main need. These are the folks who open homeless shelters. They begin pregnancy centers to give pregnant women a place to stay while that unborn individual inside them grows to birth. They go into prisons bringing the gospel to those who blew it in their lives.
Some of us will volunteer time and money to help more than one ministry.
All of us can pray…and we should, for each other and those involved in sins.
God can and does step in to change hearts. I’ve seen it firsthand.
I’ve witnessed prisoners’ entire appearances change from stoic to cheerful.
Victims have hope of a bright future no matter what their past holds.
Homeless hollowness grows into a cheerful countenance as they’re treated with dignity and respect when given help.
I think God allows societal ills to continue so His children can step in on His behalf to make a difference. He wants to use us as His instruments of help and hope.
That’s the way God works…through us.
He used a butler to rebuild Jerusalem and lead his chosen people when they were lost on what to do. Don’t tell me He can’t use you.
When your heart breaks that’s God’s Holy Spirit speaking to you. Listen closely. He’ll guide you on what to do…just like he did with Nehemiah.
Your tears are the best prayers you can ever pray. That’s the Holy Spirit speaking to God when you can’t come up with words. Cry them well.
If you don’t have a cause to throw yourself into ask God to give you one. The needs are all around us. Pray for what God wants you to do.
I doubt Nehemiah knew the impact he would have when he first discovered the needs.
He just did what he could.
I’ll see you later. Wade
