Thanksgiving week, Part IV

I know that the internet's reach is global: not all of our friends who study here are in the United States. But I hope that you will bear with me and gift me with a couple of days of rest and thanksgiving to God.

I'll be gathering with family and friends and praising God for the blessings He has given us, and for the many promises He has fulfilled to us.
I'd also like to challenge all of us to "get creative" with our gratitude, as I heard on a recent podcast (Joyce Meyers). There are so many "little" things that we take for granted . . . for example, when we walk to the sink and fill a glass with water and quench our thirst -- let's be grateful for clean water! When we go to bed at night and hear our clothes dryer running -- let's be grateful for the blessing of drying clothes while we rest! When we get up in the morning -- let's thank Him for all of our parts that are working! Our eyes see; our ears hear; and so on!

We'll gather again here at the study blog on next Monday to study more of what Nehemiah has to tell us.
For now, happy Thanksgiving to all of my friends here in the US, and happy weekend to those across the globe!

See you on Monday, Lord willing!


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Thanksgiving week, Part III

Oh, how we are blessed!
It's our custom to bow our heads in public places and silently give thanks for the food that has been placed before us. We've had wait staff that tell us when we bowed our heads, it was the first time they'd ever seen that happen in their restaurant.
How sad.
Millions never pause to give a word of thanks to God for the food provided. Even many Christians neglect this, either from hurry or embarrassment.
Even at Thanksgiving, only a minority will pause and give thanks to God.

Shifting gears . . . .
Many people now have more than they've ever had, but because they don't have everything they want, they cultivate a terrible condition of thanklessness. How can we, as believers, avoid this?
Paul tells us very directly:

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18)

No exceptions noted. No matter what is going on in our life, we are to thank Him.
That's a daunting assignment, sometimes. How does this happen?

All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. (II Corinthians 4:15)

You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (II Corinthians 9:11)

As people receive the grace of God in salvation, it leads to abundant thanksgiving. And we not only have salvation, but in that second verse, Paul says we will be blessed "in every way" so that thanksgiving is an unending activity!
Sometimes we humans rely too much on our feelings.
We don't feel happy.
We don't feel joyful.
We don't want to praise.
Whoa, pardner!
In the words of the old song, let's "Count our blessings!"
I'm assuming if you are reading here, that you have accepted God's gift of salvation. You have been redeemed by Christ's sacrifice on the cross, and with His resurrection you are now heirs with Him - eternal life is in your future!!
And the now?
He has promised His peace; He has enabled our contentment; He has gifted us with His mercy.

Surely when our mouths open, what ought to come out is thanksgiving!

Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. (Ephesians 5:4)

Sometimes it helps to actually write down our blessings. It will lift our spirits and cause us to be grateful!
Enjoy reading the words of this old hymn, and think on them with gratitude to our Father:

For the beauty of the earth,
for the glory of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

2. For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon, and stars of light;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

3. For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind's delight,
for the mystic harmony,
linking sense to sound and sight;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

4. For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

5. For thy church, that evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

6. For thyself, best Gift Divine,
to the world so freely given,
for that great, great love of thine,
peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.

The old tune is familiar, but this rendition is lovely, too . . . 

Thanksgiving week - part II

Giving thanks! It seems to come so easily when we think of our salvation; we've been set free from sin and death!

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:11, 17-18)

We received a call from an old friend recently. Corporate restructuring was taking away his paycheck.  (Our friend is a believer and is trusting God to open the next door for him.)
As human beings, we sometimes believe that we are independent and self-sufficient. We have stress, tired minds, aching backs, and callouses on our hands -- aren't these proof that we are doing it all on our own? That comfortable, warm house, our successful career, or even a newly-cleared fence-line on our land . . . all of those seem to affirm the myth that we are self-sufficient.
But let a job layoff occur, or a financial setback, or a illness that robs us of our strength -- we suddenly drop that pride at the door to our prayer room and fall on our knees before our Father.

Life comes from the Lord, as does His daily help. The fruit of our prayers is His peace, but prayer is not a band-aid or a mantra to repeat. It's a divine gift; it strengthens the bonds of love between us and God; it affirms our dependence upon Him for joy, peace, and mercy.

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,    I will be joyful in God my Savior. (Habakkuk 3:18)

Joy is knowing that death has been overcome by Jesus Christ. We are set free!
Thank you Lord!
Thanksgiving is an awesome time to enjoy the hymns of our faith and really dwell on the lyrics as we praise God and thank Him.
I've always loved this old hymn (never mind the fact that we marched to it at my high school graduation!) for the inspiring words that it contains:

1. God of our fathers, whose almighty hand leads forth in beauty all the starry band of shining worlds in splendor through the skies,
   Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.
2. Thy love divine hath led us in the past,
   In this free land by Thee our lot is cast;
   Be Thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay,
   Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.
3. From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,
   Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;
   Thy true religion in our hearts increase,
   Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.
4. Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,
   Lead us from night to never-ending day;
   Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,
   And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.

Thanksgiving week, part I

I remember when I was very small, and before I was a believer, I heard Psalm 134 in church. The pastor would read the first half of each verse, and the congregation would read the second half.
To a small child, this seemed to Go. On. Forever.
(Grin)
As a believer, I now love to read and contemplate this Psalm, for it is the Psalmist's way of making certain that we understand the totally awesome (and un-ending) mercy of our God.
Here in the first nine verses, he calls out attributes of God, as well as recounting actions that we see the results of  -- every day!

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.2 O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.4 To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever.5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.6 To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.7 To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:8 The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:9 The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever. (V 1-9)

In the middle of the Psalm, he lists many different historical events that the Jewish people would have recalled as their own special history; the history of a covenant God and His people.

Then, in the final verses, a recounting of more blessings from God: redemption, mercy, and even the food that sustains us:

Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:24 And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.25 Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever. (v 23-26)

As we prepare here in the United States for our Thanksgiving holiday, I thought it would be helpful to remember the enduring love of our Father God.

Thank you, Lord!

Friday slowdown

Nehemiah showed us this week how to wait on the Lord; we pray and plan, and then we use our people skills as needed, and we fully expect to use our problem solving skills, too. I hope this song by Hillsong is a blessing this week.


Who spoke the earth and sky to form Who sets the sun and calls the dawn Who breathed me out of dust to life With the will to trust or run and hide
I will stay should the world by me fold Lift up Your Name as the darkness falls I will wait and hold fast to Your word Heart on Your heart and my eyes on Yours Who loved me through my rebel way Who chose to carry all my shame Who breathes in me with endless life The King of glory Jesus Christ God of wonder and God of grace Let my soul stand always to praise You Fix my eyes on Your perfect way And I'll never look back Who lifts the poor and heals the blind Who trampled death for all mankind Who stands for all with arms stretched wide My King forever Jesus Christ

Your turn to speak!

As cup bearer to the king, Nehemiah showed he was honest, trustworthy, and hardworking. As a leader of the Jewish people, he is showing both people skills and problem solving skills.

I'd like to ask for some comments from y'all today. We've had some good discussions and comments on previous posts.

We studied and saw that there is a line between too little planning and too much. There's a common sense kind of division between "well, let's just trust God to solve this problem," and "let's make plans with God's help."

When do we cross that line, either personally or in a group setting?  What is proper planning and what is excessive planning? What factors can we watch for, so that we are relying on God, not simply relying on the plans we have made?

I look forward to hearing from some of you!

Serving God - problem solving

We've been reminded this week that any time we try to do something for God, there will be problems! Our enemy, the devil, will see to that. Sometimes the problems can be solved with people skills.  We saw that Nehemiah used his people skills in two situations that we can relate to today.

First, he had to speak to his boss, who was an unbeliever, and persuade him in a manner that he (the boss) could relate to. How did he do it? Well, Nehemiah was someone whom Artaxerxes had come to trust -- he was competent, honest, and of good character. Because of all this, he was able to speak to Artaxerxes in a way that he could relate to.
In our lives, we should be witnesses to people on the job and in other situations, first by showing godly character and competence. Then we will be able to give a verbal witness when the Holy Spirit opens the door for us. Anytime that we need to speak to someone about a difficult subject, think prayerfully about how that person will receive it. God will help us to speak in a manner that the person will be certain to identify with, and He will guide us to say the right things in the right way.

The second situation that Nehemiah used his people skills on was when he needed to discern someone's true motives, and then tactfully turn them away. We noted in our study that anytime we rise up and say, "Let's do something for the Lord!" then the enemy will say, "Let's do something to stop those Christians!" As godly people, we must have the discernment to know when to work with people and when to confront them. And we must also have the tactfulness to oppose them graciously.

Other times, we need to utilize problem-solving skills. Are we tired of wrestling with problems? Well, as one wit noted, we know we're alive by the fact that we have problems! Anytime that we begin a new task for God, there will be obstacles. Even if it's not an overt, in-our-face kind of resistance, there will be problems ahead and we must solve them. Nehemiah had a very large problem: the walls were in piles of rubble! The gates were burned down and the gaps standing open!

Nehemiah wanted to serve God realistically, and we can do the same. How did he begin?

I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days 12 I set out during the night with a few others. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.13 By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire. 14 Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King’s Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through; 15 so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate. 16 The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work. (Nehemiah 2:11-16)

He began with an appraisal of the entire situation. He took his time and worked carefully. There was not a lot of "hoopla" as my grandma used to call it. No retinue of servants with him. No Building Committee to pull their beards and consult in hushed tones as Nehemiah looked around.
Just Nehemiah.
And his horse.
And his horse didn't say anything. (Grin)
He took his time, and did a careful appraisal. He didn't jump to any conclusions. In one place, the rubble was so bad that he couldn't ride his horse or mule through the debris. As the leader, he needed to know exactly how things looked. He needed to know how bad things actually were, so that he could develop a practical, realistic plan for solving the problems. Nehemiah didn't gloss over the problems, and he also put himself squarely in the same boat with the people. No "holier than thou" or "I'm the boss" attitudes here.

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me.They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. (v 17-18)

Nehemiah didn't pull any punches. He admitted to the people that they were all in trouble because of the condition of the walls and gates. But he tempered this with optimism: "come, let us rebuild." In our lives, too, we need that balance. Some people are so upbeat, or so mellow and laid back, that they refuse to acknowledge just how bad things are. It may appear that they are out of touch -- kind of hard for the leaders to lead in those cases.
Other people become so engulfed and overwhelmed by the problems that they lose the ability to encourage others and inspire them to the work. Nehemiah sets an example for us in seeing the problems realistically -- we will see later that he breaks the solution into manageable units, in order to get the job completed. And he never loses sight of where their help will come from:

20 I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, (V 20a)

To sum up this study of chapter two of Nehemiah, if we want to serve God successfully, we must serve Him realistically . . . we need to wait on His timing, to learn to work with other people, and to wrestle with problems. The fact that we are doing the Lord's work and that He is on our side doesn't mean that everything is going to go smoothly and effortlessly! We need both the optimism of what God wants us to do and the realism that there will be major hurdles to overcome with His help.

There's a familiar old saying that comes to mind: "Only one life, 'twill soon be past; only what's done for Christ will last."
Let's have joy in serving God!

Verses that inspire - commitment

Lately we've mentioned commitment several times . . .

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,    and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3)

As believers, we are committed to God for our lifetime - and beyond!
Commitment, though, is a word that many people like to ignore in their vocabularies. And they would like to ignore it in their lifestyle, too.
That's not a strategy for Christians.
Why?

Commit your way to the Lord;    trust in him and he will do this (Psalm 37:5)

Because that's our plan for success.
First, we are committed to our Savior: we have a new way of life, of service and sacrifice:

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (Hebrews 13:16)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. (Romans 12:1)

We are to be committed to other believers, too.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.... 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42, 44-47)

Commitment was huge in the New Testament church community. They devoted themselves to teaching and fellowship; they supported the apostles (leaders) and each other (other followers). They contributed financially and materially to the community, and even ate together, praising God. They were committed to the service of the Lord and each other. They were building the kingdom of God.

For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. (I Corinthians 3:9-10)

Commitment is necessary in a marriage, as well. It's a lifetime partnership that should include taking cues from Christ:

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her (Ephesians 5:21-25)

Commitment is a part of our job, too, whether we are a nurse, a banker, a farmer, a construction worker, or a hospice worker. I don't mean those jobs.
I mean being committed to this job:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Commitment will bring success - in our spiritual life, in our life with other believers, in our marriage, and in our working for God's kingdom.

Lord, help us to commit our ways to You; help us to trust that You will establish our plans!

If a verse or passage has inspired you recently, I hope you will leave a comment to bless others as they study here.

Serving God - people skills

We're studying for our second week in the second chapter of Nehemiah. We're still focused on serving God, and doing it realistically; by that I mean not getting caught up in excitement so that we are disappointed when things get tough -- and also not getting pessimistic and thinking all is lost, so we throw up our hands and throw in the towel!

One thing is for sure -- when we are serving God, we must learn to work with people.
Nice people.
Not-so-nice people.
Happy people.
Grumpy people.
Hard working people.
People who would rather be spectators.
It's easy to be idealistic about the task God has for us, until we meet the actual, real, live, human beings that we have to work with!
A situation comedy that's now in syndication, Frasier, shows the everyday troubles of a radio personality. He sits in a quiet radio studio and speaks into a microphone, counseling callers about their problems and phobias. He sometimes gets frustrated by his callers, but oh, boy! When he has to actually relate to the people in his life in a one-on-one situation? Phew! Whole different story!

Isn't that the way we are sometimes?
We can pray and plan our task that God has given us. We can wait on Him to open the door for us.
But then we hit some roadblocks when we need to work with other people! Do we anticipate this, and respond tactfully? Are we ready to explain our plans, or are we resentful when people resist us?
Without knowing it, we can be abrasive.
After all, God gave us this task.
He wants us to do it.
We've prayed and planned.
But we also need to be sensitive to others. People skills are important!
Nehemiah is a good example for us. He responded graciously, with tactfulness, but when needed, he was strong, too.
Let's look at his example in working with an unbeliever: Artaxerxes. This was a situation that required a lot of prayer and a lot of finesse! After all, the king was his boss, and quite literally could make Nehemiah's head roll! Frankly, that is the reason why Nehemiah was a bit afraid when the king asked him, "Why are you sad in my presence?"  There could be severe consequences if you, as my grandma used to say, rained on his parade! Add to this the fact that Artaxerxes had stopped the work on the wall (remember back in Ezra?) before. The Medes and the Persians were known for being unchangeable - kind of a "my word is law" on steroids. So Nehemiah had quite a task ahead of him if he hoped to change that decree of Artaxerxes!

How did he do it? Well, first of all, it is amazing to us humans how God can soften the hearts of the Most Difficult People if we will spend time asking Him to do so! Secondly, Nehemiah had the respect of Artaxerxes. He was trustworthy and loyal -- so much so, that the king wanted to know when Nehemiah would be back. Lastly, our favorite cupbearer was tactful: instead of mentioning Jerusalem by name (that would have been a sore spot), he calls it the place of his forefathers' tombs. That is something that a pagan ruler can relate to. So, call him sensitive or call him tactful, Nehemiah was using his people skills, here!

Nehemiah also knew how to relate to demoralized people. The Jews in Jerusalem believed in God and His covenant, at least with head knowledge. But heart knowledge? They had lost hope. After all, they'd tried to work on the walls and they'd been shot down! They were likely to resent this outsider coming in and telling them how to do things. How Nehemiah proceeded after his arrival shows that he had anticipated some of this. He spent three days on what we call today "due diligence" and thinking about how to present this to overcome objections and rank negativity.  Then after those three days, he called everyone together for a discussion -- and he said he was "in the same boat" with them:

Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” (v 17)

See what he did there? It wasn't THEIR problem. It was OUR problem. And he appealed to a need that they all felt . . . the disgrace. Finally, he told them that God had already been working on their behalf:

I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. (v 18a)

They responded instantly:

They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. (v 18b)

There's an art to working with people and motivating them to do God's work -- Nehemiah shows us that we should combine wisdom and tact with plain truth.

The last group of people to test Nehemiah's "people skills" were the enemies of Jerusalem. Sanballat was the governor of Samaria (to the north). Tobiah ruled to the east. Geshem was the leader of the Arabs to the south. All three opposed a fortified Jerusalem: it threatened their political positions! They could not have cared any less about the plight of the Jews (or about God's glory) and they joined together to accuse the people of rebellion. Nehemiah was both wise and courageous in his response. He did not meet with them or hear their concerns, since compromise with them would have been a huge mistake! He drew the line between them and God's people, saying they could not join the project. He realize they intended to sabotage it. He said:

I answered them by saying, “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it.” (v 20)

What an example for us in our service for God! Nehemiah's people skills were awesome. We'll learn more about how he handled problems when we study again.

Step three of waiting . . . that realistic outlook

Waiting on the Lord.
It's not something that comes easily to some of us.
But waiting on the Lord is an important part of having a realistic outlook on our situation. And being realistic can certainly help us do a better job of serving the Lord!
You see, we humans have a streak of drama in us. No? Yes?
Sometimes we swing toward pessimism. Nothing's going right. Nothing is GOING to go right.
Other times we swing toward optimism. Everything's going to be OK! Absolutely everything!
One way, we sound like Eeyore in the Thousand Acre Wood, and the other way we sound like Pollyanna!
But somewhere in between is where we can have a realistic, balanced outlook on our surroundings. And that balance will help us to serve God much better than the swings between "the glass is half empty" and "the glass is half full."

We've seen that step one of waiting on the Lord is prayer.
Step two we found to be patience.
Here's step three: planning.
Oh, yes, I know there will be some who take issue with me. "Leave it in God's hands," they will say. "Trust Him and everything will work out."
Yes, that is absolutely true!
But prayer and planning are not at odds with each other. They may be thinking it's un-spiritual to plan. I don't think so. Thinking about how to move from Point A to Point B is not un-spiritual. If we go to the other extreme and make elaborate plans -- and fall into the error of trusting the plans instead of the Lord -- then we have a problem.
Let's look again at our favorite cupbearer in chapter 2:

4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.”6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.7 I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. (v 4-8)

When you read that, do you get the feeling that Nehemiah had been doing some advance planning? That he'd been thinking about how to move forward? I sure do.
King Artaxerxes asked how long he thought he'd be gone, and Nehemiah "set a time." He didn't just wave his hand and say, "Well, as long as the Lord needs me there!" Or, "I'm not sure!"
We read later (in chapter five) that he was in Jerusalem for about twelve years . . . the scholars tell us that he probably finished the wall and returned to report to Artaxerxes. Then, he came back to serve as governor.
Now, he not only gave the king a definite time, he also had some pretty detailed requests that showed he had been giving this some serious thought -- he'd been planning this! He knew that he would be passing through some territory where he'd be considered a "foreigner," so he asked the king for letters to the governors of those provinces. A letter from Artaxerxes would pave the way for a smooth trip through the province, with no problems. He also asked the king for a letter to the keeper of the king's forest - he would need timber for making repairs to the walls and the gates, and he'd need a house for himself, too.
Yes, Nehemiah is an example to us of the balance of planning and trusting. Those are two things that can exist together happily. Nehemiah had a great grasp of how to balance waiting on God in prayer -- but at the same time, thinking and planning about what he would do when God opened the door.
Our Savior gave us some instructions on this -- planning is a GOOD thing!

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?" (Luke 14:28)

And our old friend Solomon (wow, has it been that long since we studied Proverbs?) had this to say:

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,    and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3)

So, to find balance between pessimism and optimism, we should strive for a realistic outlook. And the best way to do this, as Nehemiah has shown us this week, is to wait on the Lord: and while we wait, we pray, we develop patience, and we plan.

More on Nehemiah next week!

Half full or half empty? Serving God realistically

Many people today like to "pigeonhole" others....they will say that one person is an optimist and another a pessimist. I'd like to continue our study of the second chapter of Nehemiah, and look at how we can be right in the middle: looking at things realistically! Serving God with a realistic attitude and outlook will prevent us from crashing and burning when things don't go as we would like.....

Last time we met here, we talked about how Nehemiah waited four months from when Hanani told him about the terrible situation in Jerusalem and when he mentioned it to the king, Artaxerxes. While he waited, he prayed.
What's step two?
Nehemiah developed patience.
Groan.
Oh, no, not that.
That's a hard one!
I know, I know, patience is a fruit of the Spirit and God wants all of His children to develop that. But it's not one that I'm good at. The Spirit and I are still working on that. And I expect that we will be, for quite a while more. (Grin)
Whether we are leaders or followers, we can cause a lot of problems if we react impetuously. Or if we race ahead of God to try to fix a problem.
(As a leader, Nehemiah is going to show us that he is capable of swift, decisive action when needed. And we are going to learn that he is OK with that because he has bathed every situation in prayer!) For example, he didn't leave his conversation with Hanani and rush into the king's court: "Oh, king! I need to take a year's leave of absence! I believe God has called me to Jerusalem!"
Instead, he prayed and fasted, concealing his burden from the king. He presented his concerns to God in private, and waited for God to open the door of opportunity, so that he could talk with Artaxerxes. Only then did he move forward.
Later on (in a coming chapter) we will see his patience again, when Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem. He could have ridden into town with his traveling companions and imperiously shouted to the welcoming crowd, "I've come to help you rebuild the wall!" He could have dismounted his horse and informed them that they should join him at a town hall meeting in an hour to discuss the plans.
Instead, he waited three days before doing anything! Even then, he moved cautiously and patiently, guided by his prayer life with God.

Waiting on God means working on our patience. Sometimes as new believers, or as veteran believers, too, we are bursting with great ideas for tackling problems in the church. We are excited and want to move quickly. When we meet with resistance, we are surprised and taken aback. The metaphor of sowing and reaping can teach us that we need to patiently sow God's Word (or offer tactful suggestions on how to solve problems) and that Change. Takes. Time. (Grin)

Be still before the Lord    and wait patiently for him; (Psalm 37:7a)

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (Ephesians 4:2)

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,    and in his word I put my hope. (Psalm 130:5)

Nehemiah prayed and was patient as he waited on God to work.
And that is step two of looking at our situation realistically!

Is the glass half full? Serving God realistically

I hope you have found time to read the second chapter of Nehemiah. We are looking this week at pessimism, optimism, and that "happy medium" that my grandma always talked about. The spot right in the middle, where we are looking realistically at what God would have us to do.

Chapter two begins with a note about timing.

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before, 2 so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.”I was very much afraid, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?”Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 and I answered the king, “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” (Nehemiah 2:1-5)

The scholars tell us that this means four months had gone by since Nehemiah heard the report from Hanani. Four months had elapsed since he heard about the situation in Jerusalem; he'd not had an opportunity, or the time had not "been right" to speak to the king. During that time, Nehemiah had been so burdened by this news that he had wept, mourned, fasted, and prayed for God to do something about the grievous situation.

We might wonder why he waited four months. But four months was a pretty short wait, compared to other men in the Bible whom God used.  Abraham waited more than twenty-five years for God to give him his son, Isaac. Joseph spent time as a slave, and then in prison, too, before being elevated to a position where he could save his family by moving them to Egypt. The children of Israel were enslaved for four hundred years before the exodus. Moses spent forty years in the desert before God used him to bring His people out of Egypt. Remember how David spent his youthful years running from Saul? And Paul spent three years alone in Arabia, learning and waiting before God would use him.
Long story short, if we want to be used of God, sometimes we must learn to wait.
Waiting is hard!
Life is too short! Let's get going! As grandma said, "Time's a-wasting!"
But sometimes in His wisdom, God puts us on hold.
What do we do while we wait? Let's "ask" Nehemiah . . .
While waiting, he prayed. I guess y'all think I'm really pounding on this concept this week, but you know what? IT'S IMPORTANT!! (Grin)
The prayer in chapter 1 was not a one shot deal for Nehemiah. It appears to be a summary of what he prayed over and over again during those four months of mourning and concern for God's glory and for His people. In the book bearing his name, Nehemiah is shown praying eleven times in thirteen chapters!
Many of these prayers are extremely short, like the one in verse four above. They have one important thing in common: they reflect the fact that in any (and every) situation, Nehemiah looked to God in prayer. He depended on God and is an awesome example for us of a man who did this:

pray continually, (I Thessalonians 5:17, NIV)pray all the time (MSG)Pray without ceasing. (KJV)

The Greek word translated "without ceasing" in the KJV doesn't mean without any break. That's just not possible. That Greek word can be used for a hacking cough that won't stop, and also can be used to describe repeated military assaults. (Caro, correct me if I'm wrong here, OK?) It means this: prayer should be something that we return to; something that we do again and again until we obtain an answer.
In our focus passage, the king notices that Nehemiah looks sad in his presence. That in and of itself was a breach of etiquette! Kings prefer to be surrounded by happy people, and this could have cost Nehemiah his job, or even his life! With those penalties in mind, I don't think that Nehemiah staged this, or looked sad on purpose. It seems more likely that he inadvertently allowed his sorrow to show on his face. After all, the verse says he was afraid when the king noticed. Just like us, in our Christian lives, we pray for something and hope, but when the opportunity comes, we are sometimes surprised, and sometimes apprehensive!

This had to be a silent, instantaneous cry of "Help me, Lord!" don't you think?
Or, "Give me your wisdom now!"
It was based on those four months of praying. And we see that Nehemiah knew it -- he didn't attribute the king's response to good luck:

And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me. (v8b)

I truly believe that Nehemiah knew and remembered this:

In the Lord’s hand the king’s heart is a stream of water    that he channels toward all who please him. (Proverbs 21:1)

One reason why God makes us wait on Him is to teach us this concept: to teach us to depend on Him in prayer. If He immediately granted everything that we ask for, like a kind-hearted neighbor filling our trick or treat sack, we would grab those goodies and run -- and forget God.
But when we wait on God in prayer, we learn to seek God Himself and to depend on Him. When the answer finally comes, we realize it is because of one reason . . . the good hand of our God was upon us.
And we give Him all the glory that He deserves!
That's the first step toward looking at the situation realistically, and serving Him well.
We'll look at step two tomorrow!