When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah 1:4
Have you ever noticed that some of the best things you have ever done are also the scariest and hardest things you have ever done? For me, moving from Mississippi to Dallas to attend seminary was extremely scary and hard. To be honest, I fought against the burden I felt from God to go to seminary. I tried to make other plans, but none of them worked out. At the same time, attending seminary, learning about God, and making life-long friends along the way is one of the best things I have ever done. As I made my way through seminary, I found myself saying, “I could have missed this.” I could have missed out on the growth I experienced and the lessons I learned in seminary. I could have missed out on the lifelong friendships I formed there. It was hard and scary, but I am so glad I did not miss out on my time in seminary. Although my burden to attend seminary was scary, I knew the burden was from God. Can you relate to my story? Have you ever received a burden that seemed so scary and hard, but you knew it was from God? If you are a parent, maybe you even recognize these divine burdens in your children and wonder how to best encourage them to act on them. The story of Nehemiah has a lot to teach us about burdens and how to persevere in carrying them out.
Nehemiah one begins with Nehemiah hearing that the wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem had not been rebuilt. Now, let me give you a little bit of background. Jerusalem had previously been infiltrated by the Babylonians and its walls had been destroyed. The walls of a city during that time meant protection. For the walls of Jerusalem to be destroyed meant that anyone could easily enter Jerusalem and cause destruction. It also looked to surrounding nations like Jerusalem’s God, our God, the true God, had been defeated and was not powerful. We know that this is not true. God had allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed and its walls to be torn down in order to punish the people of Israel because of sin. Now, however, it was time for Israel to be restored and for its walls to be rebuilt. So, when Nehemiah, the cupbearer of the king of Persia, the nation that captured Babylon, heard that the walls of Jerusalem still had not been re-built, he wept. He felt this burden from God. He knew that in order to show surrounding nations that God was the all-powerful God, the walls needed to be rebuilt. He also knew that the people of Israel needed the wall to be rebuilt for their own safety and for a refreshed relationship with God. Therefore, when Nehemiah heard the news about the Jerusalem walls, he was immediately burdened.
Have you ever been in Nehemiah’s shoes? Have you ever heard news that burdened you to the point of tears? My friends, lean into that burden. God has given you that burden for a reason, and He may just be using you to make a difference. Perhaps you are seeing the children in your life develop burdens to help people in need. Rather than brushing the burden away because of their age, it’s time to help them develop skills and confidence to fight for that burden. Let’s make a difference in the world and help our children to make a difference.
Is there a burden that God has given you? What issue or problem brings you to tears? Take a few minutes and think about what you are burdened about. Then, write that thing down in your notebook or journal. After writing it down, tell a trusted friend or mentor about the burden God has given you. Then, have a conversation with the children in your life, calling out burdens that you see them noticing and help them to understand that those burdens are God-given in order to make a difference for Him in the world.
Read Nehemiah 1:1-11 (NLT)
These are the memoirs of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah.
In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem.
They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”
When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven. Then I said,
“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses.
“Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’
“The people you rescued by your great power and strong hand are your servants. O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me.”
In those days I was the king’s cup-bearer.
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