Full Life Ministries

 

Have you ever been so upset about something that you said, "OH if I were there I would…..", or "Why, somebody ought to just go right over there and ……."?

Well, then what did you do about it? Did you just sit back and hope that someone else would step up and do the right thing? Or did you actually go and take on the burden yourself?

When Nehemiah heard about the condition of Jerusalem, he was so burdened in his heart that he wept! (Nehemiah 1:4) And then he did something about it. He began by fasting and praying for several days, and after that, he asked the king to allow him to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. Now, here, we don’t really give too much thought to walls around a city, but this was something that was very important to these people. Walls in Nehemiah’s day symbolized strength and peace, and also protected the cities from raids.

When Nehemiah went before the king to ask if he could go to Jerusalem, he was very afraid because the king could see the sadness in his face and showing sorrow in front of the king was a very dangerous thing, since he could execute anyone who displeased him. (Nehemiah 2:1-3) But this did not stop Nehemiah. He was deeply burdened for the people of Jerusalem, and he knew what the Lord wanted him to do. How many of us would be so bold? Especially before someone who actually had the authority to take our life? But Nehemiah did not let his fear stop him. When the king asked him why he was so sad at heart, he just simply told him the truth and the king not only allowed him to go, but also sent with him letters that instructed the people in authority to treat him right and see that he had what he needed while he was there.

I am not going to go through the whole book of Nehemiah right now, but you read it this week. It isn’t a very long book – just 13 chapters and just see for yourself what a burden this man had for the people and the city of Jerusalem, and the obstacles and opposition that he had to face during the time that he was there. But he never gave up! He knew what he had to do and with God’s help he got it done.

It is so easy to just sit back and say, " oh I wish someone would ……" or "Somebody needs to help those people……." But what we need to do is pray and fast and ask the Lord for His will --- "Lord what can I do to help?" --- and then do it. Maybe we can’t go and rebuild the walls of a city, but we can surely take a bag of food to a hungry family. We can surely spare a pair of shoes for a needy child. We could go and read a story to an elderly person. Or maybe we could volunteer a couple of hours of our time to go and cut a widow’s lawn, or repair her broken porch rails…. There are so many ways that we could reach out and help. Think about it. Is there someone in your community that is in need? Pray about it. Ask the Lord to show you a way that you can be a Nehemiah in someone’s life.

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