Nehemiah 2:5 "And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it."
Yesterday, we saw Nehemiah stopping to seek the wisdom of God before answering
the king. I sometimes have to stop and ask myself if I truly understand
even a small portion of the power of the Almighty to whom I pray. I
believe Paul had that same thought concerning God's ability and willingness to
reach down and help each one of us. This he wrote in the book of Ephesians,
"Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (21) Unto
him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without
end. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21) I feel certain that Nehemiah did not
understand the depth of God's love and grace when he stopped to ask the Lord to
give him the right words to speak.
God is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think." Not only did God give Nehemiah the right words to say, He
also gave a heart of willingness to the king. We see in the next verses that
the king only asked, "For how long shall thy journey be? and when wilt
thou return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time."
(Nehemiah 2:6) But remember God is "able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think." God then moved Nehemiah to ask the
king for letters to the governors in order that his journey would not be
hindered. The king agreed, but then "exceeding abundantly above"
that, the king said he would provide the timber that was necessary to rebuild.
"And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon
me." (Nehemiah 2:8) As we proceed through the book of Nehemiah, we
will see the hand of God upon the entire project both in the amount of people
who would do the work and the short amount of time that it took to complete the
work. God is so good in all His ways. He hasn't changed now. It is a good thing
for each of us to take the approach that, with God, all things are possible and
He will provide all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
(Remember Paul saying that in Philippians 4:19?)