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!