Nehemiah 2:2-4 "Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, (3) And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? (4) Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven."
In the first two verses, we saw the Lord working with the king to the point
that he was concerned about the state of heart of his cupbearer. We saw this
was a very unusual thing to occur. There can be no other reason for it to
happen than the fact God was moving the heart and mind of the king to show
compassion. We can assume Nehemiah was a faithful servant to the king; yet, the
fact remains he was a servant and very expendable. "Why are you so
sad?" Nehemiah's response to the king is a very important point for
us to think upon. God had opened the door. Nehemiah now had the opportunity to
tell the king what was deeply troubling him. Would he just blurt out the answer
to the king's question? Or, would he carefully word his response in order to
get on the good side of the king?
The key to the proper answer from Nehemiah is found in the last sentence of
today's verses. "So I prayed to the God of heaven." Nehemiah
realized his answer to the king's question would be key to being able to go
back to Jerusalem. I say that and realize from God's standpoint, the way was
already opened for the wall to be rebuilt around Jerusalem. But from the human
standpoint, it is very important to give a proper response with a proper tone
of voice. Have you ever said something that immediately you wished you
had said it differently or used a different tone of voice? I think we
probably all have been guilty of this at some time or other. God gave
Nehemiah the wisdom to understand that he needed the help of the Lord even in
giving his answer.
I am learning (yes it is still a process of life) - I am learning that I need
the Lord in every area of my life. I need Him in order to make proper
decisions. I need Him in order to be able to do the things that I know I should
do. I need Him to give the correct response to questions that are asked. I need
Him in order to conduct proper conversations. Simply put, I need to constantly
stop and pray to God in heaven for the wisdom of the moment. How about you?