The favor of God for such a time as this

Nehemiah 1:1-2:8 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, while I was in Susa the capitol, ² that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. ³ They said to me, “The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire.”

⁴ When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. ⁵ I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, ⁶ let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father’s house have sinned. ⁷ We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; ⁹ but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ ¹⁰ They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.” Now I was the cupbearer to the king.

2 And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. ² So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. ³ I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” ⁴ Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. ⁵ I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” ⁶ Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. ⁷ And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, ⁸ and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.

The beginning of the story of Nehemiah, in today’s text should offer great encouragement and exhortation to anyone who feels that they are not in the right place to serve God. It says:   Now I was the cupbearer to the king. And it came about in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, that wine was before him, and I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. So the king said to me, “Why is your face sad though you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, “Let the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies desolate and its gates have been consumed by fire?” Then the king said to me, “What would you request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me.    Nehemiah, a prophet and servant of God, was in a place where he was forced to serve a foreign king, one who had conquered Israel. Rather than being rebellious and uncooperative, Nehemiah served in such a way as to find favor with the king, and so he was able to be used by God to lead the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.

There are many others in scripture who, in the same way were serving foreign kings; and then were used by God to do great things. Obviously Joseph comes to mind. He was sold into slavery by his own brothers, yet because the favor of God was on him, he found favor with Pharaoh. He was used to save the Israelites from famine. Ester is another example. She was taken from her home and forced into the harem of the king. Because of the favor of God, she became queen and was used to save the Israelites from the plot of Haman. Daniel was another prophet of God who was forced into the service of a foreign king, he with his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who were renamed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Together their examples of serving God while honoring the king helped to change the mind and the heart of the king toward God. In the lion’s den and in the fiery furnace, they trusted in and were faithful to God and it changed the heart and mind of the king.

Where is it that you find yourself? Are you in a place that you cannot imagine could possibly be of God? First and foremost, what we need to do when we are in any such place or circumstance, is as Jesus says to:  Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. (Matthew 6:33) More important than seeking to remove ourselves from the place or circumstance we are in, we should seek God in that place. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says:  Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  Colossians 3:17 also says:  Whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.    Whatever we do, wherever we are, we should seek God and His righteousness. We should glorify Him, speaking His words and shining His light. In Esther 4:14, it says:  Who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?    We too have attained royalty. Regardless of where we are, regardless of our situation and circumstance, we are princes and princesses in and of the kingdom of God. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus says:   Let your light so shine before men,that they may see your good works andglorify your Father in heaven.   It could be that God will change our situation. He may indeed move us from the place we are. He also though may use us to change where we are. We may be the answer to the prayer of Jesus that says: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Jesus says:  “The kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)  Wherever you are, whatever your circumstance seek to bring the kingdom of heaven and the glory of God to that place. There are many difficult circumstances in the world today. If you find yourself in one; perhaps you were born for such a time as this.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; regardless of where I am or the circumstance I am in, because I have favor with You, because I am royalty in the kingdom of God, I will let Your light shine. I will be the answer to Jesus prayer, bringing the realities of heaven and Your will to the place and situation I am in.   Amen.