I Was Made For This: Week 1 - Tuesday

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

We heard a quote from Mark Batterson during the weekend message, “We start dying when we have nothing worth living for. And we don’t really start living until we find something worth dying for.” You see, we were not meant to simply live life for ourselves. When we live for ourselves, we feel purposeless, wandering and searching for some kind of meaning in life. When we, on the other hand, live with purpose, specifically paying attention to and acting on our divine burdens, we find fulfillment and joy, making Christ known all around us. In order to live with purpose, we first have to recognize the divine burdens that God has given us. Next, when God gives us a divine burden, we must pay attention and refuse to turn a blind eye to the needs around us. 

When God gave Nehemiah a divine burden, he could have easily overlooked it and continued with his good life as he knew it. Instead, he chose to pay attention, refusing to overlook the burden that God placed in his life. For decades and decades, the Israelites had been overtaken and held captive by the Babylonians. God had allowed them to be overtaken by the Babylonians because of their idolatry and refusal to confess their sins. Finally, after decades, the Persians overtook the Babylonians, and the king of Persia allowed the Israelites to return home. Still, things were not good for the Israelites, a fact Nehemiah soon discovered. During this time, a new king had taken over Babylon, and Nehemiah was a cupbearer to this king. When Nehemiah’s brother and a group of men came to him from Judea, he asked them about the well-being of the Israelites who had returned home and the state of Jerusalem. This was their report: "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” (verse 3). Nehemiah could have taken this news and said, “That’s too bad,” and done nothing. He could have continued with his prestigious job as cupbearer and moved on. Instead, he paid attention. Scripture tells us that he “sat down and wept” when he heard the news (verse 4). Instead of looking away, he focused on the divine burden God gave him and paid attention. As a result, he ultimately did something about this burden and led the Israelites to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

Like Nehemiah, we have all been given divine burdens. God places needs and burdens on our hearts so that we can do something about those burdens. The question is, will we pay attention, or look away? My friend, let's pay attention when God places a burden on our hearts, choosing not to look away, but instead to focus on the needs and burdens around us. 

Moving Toward Action

Yesterday, your challenge was to name a divine burden that God has placed on your life. If you have not, take a few moments to consider that burden God has placed on your heart. Today, your challenge is to pay attention to that burden. How is the thing you are burdened about impacting others? How might you be able to do something about it? This, my friend, is the next step in addressing the burden God has given you.

Going Deeper

Nehemiah 1:5-11