I just started Romans, but our church is spending March in Nehemiah, so I decided to switch gears and follow along with the study. I'll return to Romans in April.
Nehemiah 1:1-2 - He was away, yet Jerusalem was still on his heart. He wasn't simply making the best of it in this new place, he wondered what had happened back home.
Nehemiah 1:4 - I assume, since he later acknowledges that he exile was due to the sins of the people, that he knew that the news would be bad. How bad, I'm thinking he was wondering. Are they getting by? Are things improving? Hearing the truth, that things are still quite bad, desperate even, drives him to his knees, both in despair and in prayer.
He could have been content to assume that things were OK, that they were getting by, but he sought the truth and let the truth hit his heart and move him.
The same can be said of our relationships. We tend to assume that those close to us are doing fine, things are good. Of course, we all put on a good face, even when times are bad. Certainly, we should seek help when we are in need, but even more, we should dig into the lives of those close to us, looking for the truth. That truth may be as we assumed, things are fine, but we may discover hidden hurts and struggles that we can do something about.
If we rely on the hurting to seek help first, we do them a great disservice and we risk loosing them.
Nehemiah 1:5-11 - Nehemiah's heart is moved by what he has heard, and he asks God to see it too. Of course, God already sees, yet Nehemiah, first acknowledging that God was right to punish their sin, pleads with God to look, listen to his plea and remember His promises to Israel.
And then he makes plans to act.
