Nehemiah Chapter 2

The second chapter of Nehemiah began four months after the first chapter.  That’s right four months.  Nehemiah prayed and planned for four months before finally taking action.  He finally asked the king for permission to go to Jerusalem.  He was granted leave as well as letters to the governors granting him safe passage and provisions.  He was also given an armed escort.  When he arrived in Jerusalem he surveyed the damage for three days.  He didn’t tell anyone why he was there.  Finally at the end of the chapter Nehemiah took action to get the people on board with the upcoming project.

Wow!  There are so many things here to pull out of the text.  The first thing that I see is Nehemiah’s patience.  He prayed and planned for four months.  It seems that we lack this ability far too often.  We see a problem or concern and we just dive in.  We fail to pray.  We fail to plan.  We fail to prepare ourselves.  One of the best phrases that I have learned in my profession is “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.”  We jump in without looking and soon thereafter we are questioning the mess that we have gotten into.  I believe that not only was he praying and planning but he was waiting.  I have often heard it said that timing is everything and I think that Nehemiah knew this.  He was waiting till the time was right to approach the king.  He was waiting until he had a plan.  That is another thing that I have learned in my profession.  It is easy to present a problem.  Anyone can do that.  It is another thing to present a problem and have a solution ready.  He had his plan, the time was right, the king was asking questions and Nehemiah made his request.

The second thing that I see is that Nehemiah asked.  Many years later Jesus would tell his disciples “Ask and you shall receive.”  I have also heard it said, “You have not because you ask not.”  My wife is a little more direct (I can be hard headed sometimes).  She is always asking, “What is the worst they could do?  Say no.”  In this case the answer was no.  The king could do whatever he wanted.  Nehemiah was the cupbearer.  That is a trusted position.  It is an important position.  In this case the worst that could happen is that the king could kill Nehemiah.  When the time was right and with a little prodding by the king Nehemiah makes his request known.  Again he prayed before he made his request to the king.  Not only did the king grant the request, but he also sent an armed escort.  One thing to note is that Nehemiah was prepared for the conversation.  Too often we come to people with a problem but have not thought about a solution.  That is called whining.  Had Nehemiah came to the king whining the outcome could have been very different.  Instead he had already worked out a solution.  The only question given by the king in the text was asking how long Nehemiah would be gone.  Apparently Nehemiah had already prepared a time table that satisfied the king.  This will come in to play in a later chapter.

The third thing that I see is that Nehemiah was wise and humble.  He has a directive from God.  He has orders from the king.  He has an armed escort.  He is a man on a mission.  He could have come in to the city with trumpets blaring.  He had orders from the king.  He could have come in and demanded the people to get to work.  He could have, but he didn’t.  He was in the city three days.  He went out at night to survey the wall.  He didn’t tell anyone why he was there.  When he finally approached the people he didn’t come and tell them that he was there to build their wall and that the king said he could, so they had to help.  He didn’t boast.  He didn’t brag.  He didn’t berate.  He didn’t demand.  He related.  When he spoke to them he used words to help them understand that he felt their pain.  He used words like “distress we are in,” “let us build,” and “prosper us”.  Speaking as a man I know that I am guilty of this far too often.  My wife or kids will be struggling with something and here I come.  Superdad to the rescue.  I know the answer what you need to do is....I have not taken time to understand.  I have not partnered with them.  I have deprived them of a learning and growing experience.  I understand the problem but I have failed to understand the person.  We need to seek first to understand before we try to be understood.