Nehemiah 1:5–11 ‘We have acted very wickedly towards you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.’ (v7)
Nehemiah is clear in what he should do about the broken-down walls back in his people’s home city of Jerusalem. Having spent the time in prayer and fasting we can now read his recorded prayer to God, which includes the way in which he saw the justice of God’s action in His judgment of the people. Indeed, he even identifies with the sins of his people.
He acknowledges that he is part of the problem. He needed to enlist his leader’s help in providing a solution and knew that, in such an environment, asking the king for help could meet with an angry response. We note that Nehemiah is not absolutely clear that he will receive this support, hence the prayer, but also that he is prepared to act even in spite of not being surer.
Don’t allow a lack of certainty to prevent you from acting but, having committed your ways to God, take the actions you feel you need to, looking to God to bless. You can always further your plans or change them or halt them as He sees fit. Maybe you are in the place of uncertainty?
Give time to prayer but don’t make prayer an excuse for passivity or inactivity. The people of God have often had to act in trust rather than absolute certainty that their plans would succeed.
A Prayer To Make:
‘I trust You, Lord, to be at work even in my uncertainties. May I see Your hand guiding and directing my steps today. Amen.’
An Action To Take:
Take the action that you have been wondering about. Commit it to the Lord and then do it!
Scripture To Consider:
Ps. 90; Isa. 1:10–17; Acts 4:23–32; Col. 4:2–6
