O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer. (Nehemiah 1:11)
Nehemiah was expecting God to do something!
We know this, because we read that he reminded God of His promise to bring the people of Israel back to Jerusalem. Nehemiah claimed this promise and asked God to work in the King's heart to allow him to go to Jerusalem and lead the re-building of that great city. He wasn't asking God to enable him to go to Jerusalem simply because he had a desire in his heart to do it. No, he asked God to turn the king's heart because he knew that God had promised to send the Jews back and re-establish them in the land.And he Expected God to do what He had promised to do!
In Mark 6:1-6, we read :
Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.
Why couldn't Jesus do mighty works in Nazareth? It was because of their Unbelief, their lack of Faith. They didn't believe anything would happen, and that attitude prevented Jesus from helping those in need.
The lesson for us is that when we don't have Faith that Expects, we limit what God can do!
Nehemiah recognized his own limitations. He knew that only God can change a man's heart, especially a King's heart, so he prayed and left it in God's hands.
Too often, instead of expecting God to work in our situation,we try to work things out ourselves by manipulating people & circumstances. We run ahead of God, we scheme to get things to work our way and we end up getting in God's way.
What if, instead of getting the King's permission and assistance, Nehemiah had devised his own scheme to go to Jerusalem & organize the people to rebuild the walls? If he had gone on his own, he would have had a very difficult time being able to trust God in other things, such as the opposition and discouragement that came up when Tobiah was trying to stop the rebuilding.
By trusting God to prepare the way, Nehemiah went to Jerusalem with the permission, funding, & protection of the king.
When we run ahead of God, we stand naked & defenseless before our enemies, without the armour & protection of God.
Faith that is Genuine is Faith that Expects. It expects God to be God, in His full power and glory.
