Searching for favor to overcome obstacles

   

   We have all been at a point in our lives where we have received terrible news.  Something that shatters our world and time seems to stop.  Thoughts flood our minds and we stand numb.  This numbness can be from disbelief or a feeling of helplessness.  How could things have gone from driving forward to disaster?

   This position is where we find a person named Nehemiah.  Nehemiah was going about daily business and serving the King of Persia.  While in captivity Nehemiah had found favor with the king and secured a spot as a cup bearer.  This position was considered high ranking at the time and one that could have great influence, though it did come with some expectations.

   Showing any negative emotion in front of a king could be disastrous.  A king could have someone imprisoned or executed for such things.  Nehemiah had to constantly be on guard with his expression of anger and sorrow.  What a major task this would be for a person in captivity in a foreign land.

   You can only imagine Nehemiah’s plight after this conversation with his brother Hanani:

“In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. ³ They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”(Nehemiah 1:1-3)

   What a rush of emotions Nehemiah must have felt.  His hometown and people were in despair with no hope for a better day.  The walls were broken, gates destroyed and we know with further study that they were experiencing a famine.  In chapter five the people report:

 ³ Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine.”⁴ Still others were saying, “We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. (Nehemiah 5:3-4)

   All of this information begins to weigh on Nehemiah.  How can he hide it?  The king was a person with whom he had spent a lot of time and they were very close. Holding all of this emotion in had to be a difficult task.

   Trials are something we all experience and struggle with.  Nehemiah and the people of Israel were not immune to difficult times, so it is certain that we will experience them as well.  How we respond to these situations will speak volumes of our faith.  Next post we will see Nehemiah’s response to the news from his brother.