Loyalty becomes second nature when we have continual conversation with our God & King.
A conversation with the king completely changed the trajectory of Nehemiah’s life. Born in exile, he quickly rose the ranks & gained confidential access to the Persian king as his cupbearer.
When he learned that Jerusalem still lay in ruins nearly 91 years after the Jews were allowed to return, he mourned, fasted & prayed for days for a place he’d never seen!
In that moment, Nehemiah turned had a conversation with His God & King. He:
👉🏽proclaims Him Lord & praised His faithfulness.
👉🏽 begs his heavenly King to listen to his prayer
👉🏽confesses how they’ve sinned against God
And then he does something I find funny 👉🏽 He reminds God of what He promised. Like if He’s
God, does He NEED reminding? 🤔
He begs God to remember 👉🏽He said if the people return to Him... even if they are exiled to the ends of the earth, He will bring them back to a place that honors His name.
This conversation with Nehemiah’s divine King is followed by one with Persia’s earthly king. These two conversations led to Nehemiah leaving the comforts of the Persian palace to lead the successful restoration of the walls of Jerusalem.
It’s quite the fascinating story & well worth the read. What stood out most to me, however, was the loyalty of a young man to a God he’s never seen & to the broken down city where He resides.
Psalm 31:23 says that the Lord protects those who are loyal to Him. Loyalty is not something we do, it simply becomes our new nature, something we can accomplish with ease, when we have continual conversation with our King. He is only a whispered prayer away. What I know to be true is that He doesn’t wander; my heart does. Like Nehemiah, we have confidential access to our God & King. Sometimes the act of “reminding God” of what He’s promised, is a tangible way for us to remind US of His faithfulness!
Father, we return to You & thank you for your promise to protect us. Remind us that feelings of frustration preach of self reliance. Let those feelings awaken us to our need of you, drawing us near to You & prompting a confidential conversation with our King. #oneyearbible
August 11th One Year Bible Readings 💡NEHEMIAH 1:1-3:14 💡1 CORINTHIANS 7:1-24 💡PSALM 31:19-24 💡PROVERBS 21:4
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