BY Raechel Myers
[You can find the new Nehemiah plan on YouVersion by clicking here!]
Intro
I know. Another Old Testament prophet. But, if you felt like the text in Hosea was challenging, you’ll be pleased to know that things move a little more smoothly in Nehemiah. Still, thirteen chapters about rebuilding a wall might feel potentially tedious to some.
The good news is that Nehemiah is about so much more than bricks and mortar. It’s actually a remarkable story about God using regular, God-fearing folks – not just the big, important leaders – to accomplish His redemptive purposes.
Nehemiah will teach us about compassion, community, repentance, covenant, and conviction. And it doesn’t end like you might expect. Join us?
Trouble and Shame
Text: Nehemiah 1:1-11a
Think back to when you first moved out of your parents’ house. (And if you can, try to remember a time when you didn’t have access to news and status updates in the palm of your hand.) Your family comes to visit for a long weekend and as you sit down for lunch together, you ask how things are going back home.
Only rather than “same old, same old” or “so-and-so’s having a baby and the Jones’s just put in a new swimming pool”, you hear, “Honestly? Things are really bad. Everyone you knew growing up is either dead or wishes they were dead. Your hometown is falling apart. Our police force has been destroyed and the whole city is absolute lawlessness.”
It absolutely breaks your heart, right?
This is where we meet our man Nehemiah today. He has just received word that the wall of Jerusalem (his hometown) was broken down and the gates destroyed by fire. The people he loves – his fellow Israelites with whom he and his family go way back – are in “great trouble and shame”. Things are low. Really low.
Look at how Nehemiah responds with compassion for his people. Even though he is 800 miles away, safely and comfortably out of harm’s way, testing wine and food for the king’s table; just knowing that his people are hurting lays him low. Really low.
The Bible tells us that when Nehemiah hears this news he weeps and mourns for days. His people and his home may as well be on the other side of the planet, yet knowing that they are without protection has him fasting and praying and confessing on their behalf.
We have a lot to learn in our study of the book of Nehemiah. But even in this first day, even in setting the stage for what is going to need to be accomplished in the hearts and lives of the people of Israel, the sovereign God is showing us something awesome about biblical compassion.
Lord, rend our hearts for the hurting today. Let us not allow our own comforts or safe distance from pain prevent us from seeing and loving others as you see and love them. Move us. Break us. And build us back up for your glory.
Click here to join the discussion with the SheReadsTruth Community: http://bit.ly/NehemiahDay1
120 thoughts on "trouble and shame"
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I recently shared a story with my daughter about 2 students with health and emotional issues. She responded with "Mom, how did we ever get this lucky, we don't know anything about that kind of suffering." My response was, honey we are not lucky, God has just truly blessed us, and we need to thank him everyday. This scripture brought that conversation to my mind today, and how conscious we need to be about the trials and tribulations of those we are around each day. My husband reminds me that I have the opportunity to touch so many lives in my job. My prayer is that God will open my eyes and my heart to those in need around me and give me a heart to all of those in need.
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Before I started really reading the Bible and learning more about God, my faith was only personal – between me and Him. I never thought to pray for those far away from me. At most for the people around me when something bad had happened. But after growing in the wisdom of God, I realized the need to pray for the people further away from me, and today's Nehemiah reading really aligned God's will with mine because this morning I just read a blog post on the impact of Hurricane Sandy!
There are simply too many tragedies in 2013. Just to name a few on the top of my head – the Bangladeshi factory building collapse, the China Sichuan earthquake, the Boston bombings, the Turkey bombings… It has been awful. But God is a great, great God… Today I include all these people, victims, helpers and families of these victims and helpers, in my prayer. And being in such a safe place like Singapore, it is sometimes easy to forget the difficulties others face at a day-to-day basis. I pray that God will not only watch over them, make His face shine upon them, but also use these difficult times to point back to Him… Amen.
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childrenngoerz, thnk you for this! Yes, I have felt this way, and what you said really helped me!
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Ladies, I’m not sure how many of you have heard what has happened in the last week here in southern Ontario, Canada. But a man, Tim Bosma was abducted when showing his car to “potential buyers”
Today, the police believe they have found his remains. He was part of the Christian community, had a 2 year old daughter and wife. My heart is devastated for his family, friends and their loss. Please pray for them.
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I have been following this story also Anon. I read about the grisly discovery today and my heart just sunk. I'm in Southern Manitoba and many of us have been praying for the family. So heartbreaking.
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I love the Book of Nehemiah! There are so many lessons to be learned…leadership, organization, strategic planning, spiritual warfare, cooperation…and the list goes on and on.
I am excited with anticipation to see the Book through everyone’s different lenses. I personally enjoy reading the Old Testament (even though words are difficult to pronounce and sometime the storyline is hard to comprehend) the efforts to stick with it produces such a bountiful harvest! WHAT IS LIFE WITHOUT THE STRUGGLE?
I truly enjoyed Hosea because not only did I have a chance to read everyone’s comments, but I was doubly blessed because the devotional writers switched up from time to time.
THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT JOURNEY…I pray everyone hangs on for the ride! The more the merrier…you’re (SRT, Autumn, Madeline, Charmaine, Margie – you and your family, Melissa – you and your family, and Monique) in my prayers. Everyone be blessed.
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Pretty sad when I have to reply to myself (it was to break down my very long comment): in case you don't know how to open and do replies, you will miss mine (within the 3 continual comments) I shared this and am repeating the last of the 3 parts here:
Will you determine in your heart to pray more? Will you start a prayer group in your home? Pray continually—live in a spirit of prayer.
And we are given this opportunity here in SRT (and today, specifically with Kellie and her family) This is exactly what the application was for me as I stated earlier and also from Max:
"Many Christians feel that prayer is the weakest part of their Christian walk, yet it’s vital for your relationship with the Lord. Set up a regular time each day to commune with the Lord. For many people, that’s early in the morning before they become so busy. If you get tired easily, pray out loud. And establish regular prayer times with friends and family."
(2003-03-06). Lucado Devotional Bible, NCV: Experiencing the Heart of Jesus (Kindle Location 22361). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.SRT is family and as sisters in Christ, a community, or as Pastor Mark Driscoll focused his Nehemiah study "a city within a city" (though what he said about blogs and online communities I don't agree with) because for me, they work and are effective and meaningful. I don't do Facebook (yet) or Twitter or many other social sites but I do make many great connections and grow from online communities and friends like we have here… I needed to have English speaking church family to help me continue growing and making imperfect progress, keep me accountable and current with all that's available as I reach out and minister in whatever place God plants me (right now it's been Mexico) previously in my home church in MN, though it was not in my community, I had many opportunities to reach out to inner city and others.
But first God calls us to look introspectively and at our own relationships then our neighborhoods, then our community and our church family, is part of that growing and reaching out. Not just worldwide ministries, but wherever we are and can be effective best, right now – with our children, our family, our loved ones, even as with Nehemiah, roots with wings, traveling back 800 miles to where his heart beat for his fellow people in Israel. As Max wrote: "Nehemiah exchanged the royal robe for coveralls and got to work. The project took twelve years and was uphill all the way." This is what God is asking of us: to ask, to seek and to knock!
Kellie asked!!! Let's keep are eyes and hearts open and listening to as Junebug wrote the "pulse of God".
This song came to mind for me although I like the other ones shared as well!!!
"GIVE ME YOUR EYES" by Brandon Heath
Love and press on in God's strength and peace in Christ,
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I came here so prepared and fired up to share and read/glean from you all! I started my day ever so early with a new NCV Devotional Bible from Max Lucado that I just got (never have read NCV version, usually NIV(NVI) or Reina Valera in Spanish)!
Then as some may have read, I got lost and sidetracked!
{now my comment was to long so it's cut off here and continued below}
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I cut it off too soon above
… After just reading the wonderful devo (thank you Raechel!) I will just comment from there for now but Max Lucado, Pastor Mark Driscoll and ABS gave me so much manna to chew on for this opening day of Nehemiah, as you can see, I just could not wait and was so looking forward (still am) to what God would reveal here in 17 days with SRT (since as I wrote previously, God definitely spoke to me last year, telling me to read Hosea and Nehemiah and I just obeyed without understanding the internal implications just the externals ones, SRT makes me find application to my own personal life story that he is writing on the pages of my heart)…
… when I read the two main words in the title today… I shirked back, "trouble and SHAME"… there's that word again. I came here thinking walls, Nehemiah's compassion and prayers, tearing down and building up, relationships. So, I was expecting PRAYER … as Nehemiah's example throughout this book! That's TROUBLE right here in River City (from the "Music Man" musical ) that's T with a capital "T", the lyrics have lots of spiritual implication … I digressed …
and then followed by SHAME!
So Raechel, since you wrote this and chose these two words, I'm wondering from you why you saw "trouble and shame" in Nehemiah 1:1-11 cuz I love the direction of your prayer and opening analogy to help us apply it to us!I guess it must be the version you read… cuz NIV says "great trouble and disgrace" (v. 3) whereas my new devotional Bible NCR used those words, but they did not stand out to me nor did I highlight them, until you and this devo emphasized them: "…but they are in much trouble and are full of shame." So then I looked more closely at this since you keyed in on these two words!
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I really want to share what Max Lucado wrote and the quote that I highlighted from today's reading from a book of his:
"Traveling light means trusting God with the burdens you were never intended to bear." —Max Lucado (Traveling Light)That is what Kellie did today!
Then the LIFE LESSONS in the reading for today from my devotional bible with Max
"Nehemiah invited God to use him to save the city." as He asks us to do right where we are …
Here's some more of what Max Lucado shared:
Situation
Nehemiah, a Jew displaced by the Babylonian captivity, served in the king’s court. When he heard of the decrepit condition of the gates and walls of Jerusalem, he wept and asked the king to send him to rebuild the walls.
Observation
When Nehemiah heard bad news, he prayed. He asked the Lord for success and kindness.
Inspiration
When God says to pray, he really means it. To pray is the most commonly mentioned command in Scripture. It is mentioned more than “love your neighbor,” more than “go to church,” and more than “evangelize.” More than anything else, God calls us to pray. We should be people of great prayer. We should be prayer warriors. We should be people who use the ministry of prayer to its fullest capacity. The highest and greatest calling of Christians is the ministry of prayer. I would like to encourage you, admonish you to make a decision to pray more and to set up some specific plans to support that decision. "Will you determine in your heart to pray more? Will you start a prayer group in your home? Pray continually—live in a spirit of prayer.
And we are given this opportunity here in SRT (and today, specifically with Kellie and her family) This is exactly what the application was for me as I stated earlier and also from Max:
"Many Christians feel that prayer is the weakest part of their Christian walk, yet it’s vital for your relationship with the Lord. Set up a regular time each day to commune with the Lord. For many people, that’s early in the morning before they become so busy. If you get tired easily, pray out loud. And establish regular prayer times with friends and family."
(2003-03-06). Lucado Devotional Bible, NCV: Experiencing the Heart of Jesus (Kindle Location 22361). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.SRT is family and as sisters in Christ, a community, or as Pastor Mark Driscoll focused his Nehemiah study "a city within a city" (though what he said about blogs and online communities I don't agree with) because for me, they work and are effective and meaningful. I don't do Facebook (yet) or Twitter or many other social sites but I do make many great connections and grow from online communities and friends like we have here… I needed to have English speaking church family to help me continue growing and making imperfect progress, keep me accountable and current with all that's available as I reach out and minister in whatever place God plants me (right now it's been Mexico) previously in my home church in MN, though it was not in my community, I had many opportunities to reach out to inner city and others.
But first God calls us to look introspectively and at our own relationships then our neighborhoods, then our community and our church family, is part of that growing and reaching out. Not just worldwide ministries, but wherever we are and can be effective best, right now – with our children, our family, our loved ones, even as with Nehemiah, roots with wings, traveling back 800 miles to where his heart beat for his fellow people in Israel. As Max wrote: "Nehemiah exchanged the royal robe for coveralls and got to work. The project took twelve years and was uphill all the way." This is what God is asking of us: to ask, to seek and to knock!
Kellie asked!!! Let's keep are eyes and hearts open and listening to as Junebug wrote the "pulse of God".
This song came to mind for me although I like the other ones shared as well!!!
"GIVE ME YOUR EYES" by Brandon Heath
Love and press on in God's strength and peace in Christ,
Peggy
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The best part is in the last part!(I think)
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I haven’t posted in a long time. I missed out on a couple of amazing studies (bummed I missed out on Hosea) but I’m back to study Nehemiah with you all! I love how much the SRT community has grown! I read the devo this morning but had to come back during lunch to read all of your comments. Your comments is what I love (and missed) most from you all!
My prayers are with you, Kellie, and your family during your time of grief! I know how difficult it is to forgive but it feels so great when you do! I pray the Lird strengthens you and brings you much peace!
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Glad you're back Bianca and look forward to getting to read your heart as you share!
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