Some time ago (probably a year or so) I was praying with a young woman who was trying to decide if she should go to Haiti back then. As I prayed with her, I asked her one simple question: Where is your burden? When God calls us, He lays a burden on our hearts. There is something that needs to be done. What was God telling her? Now I wonder. Did she go? Was she there when the earthquake struck? What is her story now?
In the Bible, you can see this in Nehemiah’s call. Nehemiah was working as an underemployed cupbearer for a heathen king in a remote land. His friends had been spiritually mapping the Jerusalem area. They are reporting that the people there are in despair, there is no vision, and the nation is in disgrace. At this point Nehemiah has the same information as his friends; but look at the difference. Only Nehemiah has the burden. He can’t eat or sleep for months. He then goes before the king and asks permission to respond. Against all odds, the king gives him permission, provides the resources he needs, and even provides security for his trip to Jerusalem. Nehemih, with God’s help, pulled off what looked like an impossible job in only 52 days.
Pray for the people working there. Give to get them the resources they need. Help where you can, even something as simple as working the phones for a relief organizatin here.
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Only 52 days? Ah – but Nehemiah had been fasting and praying for four months before he went to Jerusalem. Read Chapter 1. What was he praying for? It wasn’t the wall. The wall isn’t even mentioned in that first chapter. The wall is first mentioned in the second chapter. Nehemiah knew the king needed more security on the outside edge of the kingdom. Nehemiah offered to help the king gain that – i.e., he addressed his vision in terms of the needs of the king. Nehemiah’s vision was to see Place again. The king wouldn’t even understand that.