Right Response to Difficult Times
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire." As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. -- Nehemiah 1:1-4: English Standard Version; emphasis mine
This is a true story. It will almost sound funny, but it's not at all that. It's really an admission of exactly how backwards I can be.
A few years ago a person came to me, obviously deeply troubled. They informed me of some horrible news; a young girl that we both cared about was found to have been sexually abused by someone very close to her. I was enraged! My first thought was to search out the house for my shotgun. After all, I thought, isn't that justice?
Before I go any further, let me say there IS a place for rigteous anger. There IS a place for the strong to defend the weak. There IS a time when it is appropriate for physical action to be employed. Don't believe me? Let someone, in a moment of rash behavior, attempt to hurt one's child. Would that not be a moment when decisive action would be required?
In this case, when the wrong had already occurred and nothing could REVERSE it, my response was utterly wrong. My anger was justified, but my actions only spoke of immaturity.
Nehemiah gives a good lesson in the godly response to a difficult situation. Nehemiah heard the horrible news about the condition of Jerusalem; it was in ruins. Nehemiah heard that the remnant of people in Judah were "in great trouble and shame". Nehemiah's response to that very difficult news was to fast and pray.
How often do we do that? As for me, not enough. I think our first response is to react with whatever emotion the news causes in us, using action that is CUSTOMARY or ACCEPTABLE to our social "norm".
When we fast and pray we are laying ourselves bare before the Lord and seeking His direction and solution.
Friends, we live in perilous times. We live in times that find us constantly hearing about troubling things -- school shootings, thousands of abortions every day, world hunger of phenomenal proportions -- none of this mentions the personal problems we ALL have. The best, and most appropriate response, would be fasting and prayer. After all, and here's a zinger, refer to Jesus' words in Matthew 6:2,5, and 16 -- there you will find Jesus saying "WHEN you give...WHEN you pray...WHEN you fast" (my translation; emphasis mine). It's as if these disciplines are EXPECTED of Christians. So, fasting and prayer SHOULD be our natural response to much of life.
Let me pull the Christian leaders to the side for a moment --- does the news you hear from your congregants immediately evoke prayer and fasting in you? I'll be honest if you will -- it doesn't always get that response from me. We SHOULD LEAD the way in these things! We often offer advice and try to solve things for people when what is MOST NEEDED is prayer and fasting.
I don't want anyone to read this and think, "Man, I ought to be more spiritual!" I am simply presenting Nehemiah's response and saying we should recognize a good example and DESIRE to emulate it. I don't want any of you (or myself) to grit our teeth and grudgingly pursue spiritual things. Perhaps we all need to admit our weakness and beg God to help us in this area. I do WANT to respond to things in the BEST and most HELPFUL way I can.
I leave this subject with a prayer...
Father, I often react in the flesh. I often try to solve things. Lord, help me surrender to You more. Help me bare my soul to You. Lord, give me a desire to practice spiritual disciplines and help me to allow You to do Your perfect work in my inner man so that my outer man may show forth Your Spirit at work in me. Honestly Father, I want to solve things. I recognize that actions of the flesh produce results of the flesh. I do not want what I can do, but prefer what You can do. I have faith; give me more. You alone are God. Help me. Help me do only that that would manifest Your presence in every situation. Amen.
The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire." As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. -- Nehemiah 1:1-4: English Standard Version; emphasis mine
This is a true story. It will almost sound funny, but it's not at all that. It's really an admission of exactly how backwards I can be.
A few years ago a person came to me, obviously deeply troubled. They informed me of some horrible news; a young girl that we both cared about was found to have been sexually abused by someone very close to her. I was enraged! My first thought was to search out the house for my shotgun. After all, I thought, isn't that justice?
Before I go any further, let me say there IS a place for rigteous anger. There IS a place for the strong to defend the weak. There IS a time when it is appropriate for physical action to be employed. Don't believe me? Let someone, in a moment of rash behavior, attempt to hurt one's child. Would that not be a moment when decisive action would be required?
In this case, when the wrong had already occurred and nothing could REVERSE it, my response was utterly wrong. My anger was justified, but my actions only spoke of immaturity.
Nehemiah gives a good lesson in the godly response to a difficult situation. Nehemiah heard the horrible news about the condition of Jerusalem; it was in ruins. Nehemiah heard that the remnant of people in Judah were "in great trouble and shame". Nehemiah's response to that very difficult news was to fast and pray.
How often do we do that? As for me, not enough. I think our first response is to react with whatever emotion the news causes in us, using action that is CUSTOMARY or ACCEPTABLE to our social "norm".
When we fast and pray we are laying ourselves bare before the Lord and seeking His direction and solution.
Friends, we live in perilous times. We live in times that find us constantly hearing about troubling things -- school shootings, thousands of abortions every day, world hunger of phenomenal proportions -- none of this mentions the personal problems we ALL have. The best, and most appropriate response, would be fasting and prayer. After all, and here's a zinger, refer to Jesus' words in Matthew 6:2,5, and 16 -- there you will find Jesus saying "WHEN you give...WHEN you pray...WHEN you fast" (my translation; emphasis mine). It's as if these disciplines are EXPECTED of Christians. So, fasting and prayer SHOULD be our natural response to much of life.
Let me pull the Christian leaders to the side for a moment --- does the news you hear from your congregants immediately evoke prayer and fasting in you? I'll be honest if you will -- it doesn't always get that response from me. We SHOULD LEAD the way in these things! We often offer advice and try to solve things for people when what is MOST NEEDED is prayer and fasting.
I don't want anyone to read this and think, "Man, I ought to be more spiritual!" I am simply presenting Nehemiah's response and saying we should recognize a good example and DESIRE to emulate it. I don't want any of you (or myself) to grit our teeth and grudgingly pursue spiritual things. Perhaps we all need to admit our weakness and beg God to help us in this area. I do WANT to respond to things in the BEST and most HELPFUL way I can.
I leave this subject with a prayer...
Father, I often react in the flesh. I often try to solve things. Lord, help me surrender to You more. Help me bare my soul to You. Lord, give me a desire to practice spiritual disciplines and help me to allow You to do Your perfect work in my inner man so that my outer man may show forth Your Spirit at work in me. Honestly Father, I want to solve things. I recognize that actions of the flesh produce results of the flesh. I do not want what I can do, but prefer what You can do. I have faith; give me more. You alone are God. Help me. Help me do only that that would manifest Your presence in every situation. Amen.
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