Daily Devotionals

Are We There Yet? Week 5 Tuesday

 The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?” With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.” Nehemiah 2:4-5

Many of us would say we have compassion, and we are moved when we hear about problems and issues in the world. However, we often stop at feeling compassion. We feel sad and moved, but we never do anything to help alleviate that problem. My friend, until we put our words into actions, our words will always fall short. As the Christian author Christine Caine, says, “Compassion is never compassion until you cross the street and go do something about it.” Today, we are continuing our study of Nehemiah, a man who took his burden, his compassion, and put it into action.

In Nehemiah 2, Nehemiah began to do something about the burden he felt due to Jerusalem’s destroyed walls. He was cupbearer to the king of Persia at the time. So, the next time he was before the king of Persia, he requested permission from the king to go back to Israel to help rebuild Jerusalem’s wall. He did not stay silent about his burden. It would have been easy for him to keep his burden to himself. He had a good job. He had a high position with the king in Persia. He did not even live in Israel and was not affected on a daily basis by the lack of walls. Instead of staying silent, he acted. He stepped out of his position and power and did something about the burden he felt.  

Do you have a burden that you are certain is from God? Your question today is this: What are you going to do with your burden? Will you step out and turn your compassion into action and make a difference? It may seem difficult. It may mean stepping out of your comfort zone. It may be risky. Will you step out anyway? Do you see compassion developing in the children in your life? How can you help them step beyond feeling compassion into acting out of compassion? Our children are watching us and looking to us to lead. May we always step beyond feelings into action when we get a divine burden, whatever that burden might be.

Moving Toward Action

Yesterday your challenge was to name the burden that you felt from God. Today, your challenge is this: What is one step you can take to do something about that burden. Make a plan and then put that plan into action, starting today. Encourage the children in your life to think of a plan as well. That they can put into action that step they can take to fight against that burden.

Going Deeper

Read Nehemiah 2:1-10 (NLT)

Early the following spring, in the month of Nisan, during the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was serving the king his wine. I had never before appeared sad in his presence. So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.”

Then I was terrified, but I replied, “Long live the king! How can I not be sad? For the city where my ancestors are buried is in ruins, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.”

The king asked, “Well, how can I help you?”

With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.”

The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?” After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request.

I also said to the king, “If it please the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, instructing them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to Judah. And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king’s forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself.” And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.

When I came to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, I delivered the king’s letters to them. The king, I should add, had sent along army officers and horsemen to protect me. But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of my arrival, they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel.