Scripture:
Nehemiah 2:11-12
So I
came to Jerusalem and was there three days. And I arose in the
night, I and a few men with me. I did not tell anyone what my God was putting
into my mind to do for Jerusalem and there was no animal with me except the animal
on which I was riding.
Insights: Let
me set the scene a little for our verses today.
Nehemiah had prayed for four months for God to move on the king’s
heart. Finally the day came and God
granted Nehemiah favor with the king.
Then there was the long, arduous journey of eight-hundred miles back to
Jerusalem. Along the way, he had to stop
off for supplies. The day finally
arrived in which Nehemiah pulls into Jerusalem.
One would have thought after waiting all of this time that Nehemiah
would have been ready to hire the subcontractors, pull out the trowel, and
start the rebuilding of the wall. That
story was not at all what Nehemiah did.
In typical fashion of this man of prayer, he went into solitude for
three days. Then on the fourth night he
went out alone, with only his animal, to inspect the walls. When it reports in this twelfth verse that a
few men arose with him that does not mean they went on the inspection with
him. The helped saddle his animal and
gather up the few supplies Nehemiah was going to need. I am over emphasizing Nehemiah’s isolation
because solitude is the forgotten character of a person of faith in our
twenty-first century world. Life is so
incredibly fast past that we often times forget to have time with the Lord in
prayer and personal Bible study. I don’t
want you to miss some very crucial words found in that twelfth verse. Nehemiah shared with us that God put some
thoughts into his mind about Jerusalem.
When do you think the Lord put those thoughts into his mind? Do you think it happened while he was out
there so busy with the things of this world?
Absolutely not! He heard from the
Lord God in his three days of silence and solitary. Nehemiah understood how serious this job of
wall building was and he also knew he was incapable of pulling this job off
without the favor of God on his life.
Private time alone with God in prayer and Bible study is the most
important thing we as Christ-followers do for the Lord. It is out of those times that we are
empowered and directed to accomplish His will here on earth. Beloved, spend time ALONE with the Father!
Questions:
- How are your quiet times with God going right now?
- Are you equating activity with spiritual maturity?
Prayer: Father, in the
busyness of life do not let me forsake my time with You. Strengthen my heart to daily choose to love
You. Help me to truly understand the
consequences of forsaken time in Your presence.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment