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"For a great and effective door has opened to me,
and there are many adversaries."
(1 Corinthians 16:9)
Those were tough times for Nehemiah and the people of God in the 5th century B.C. Nehemiah approached the king and queen of Persia to make a request to leave his well-paying and respectable employment. Why? He asked for a leave of absence because not all was right in the world, or at least in the part of the world that mattered most to him.
The report from Jerusalem in Nehemiah 1:3 was hard to hear: there was great distress and reproach, the wall around Jerusalem was broken down, and the gates were burned with fire. This broke his heart. This was his people, his homeland, and Nehemiah felt led by God to do something about it.
Nehemiah had an audience with King Artaxerxes and the queen (see Nehemiah 2:6). This may have been Queen Damaspia, or some believe it was the chief member of the king's harem, because the normal Hebrew word for queen is not used in this place in the text.
The king asked when Nehemiah would return. Nehemiah was very prepared and gave him a precise time. We do not know what that was, but one theologian believes that it was about a year. Nehemiah would serve as governor of Jerusalem for 12 years. Perhaps he reported back to the king within the year, and at that time received his renewal of the governorship. (Source: Breneman, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, p. 176–177)
These are hard times for our country and our world. We still have a divided nation that lacks unity and peace. We have a new president who I believe wants to do right for our country, but he is opposed at every turn. There is suffering in our world on so many levels. My heart, and I'm sure yours as well, is broken for so many in our world. Just within a few weeks, we have witnessed the burning inferno in California that destroyed over 100,000 homes and businesses, 10 people killed in Sweden by a gunman just last week, and two horrible plane crashes that took the lives of many. Our world is suffering and very broken. As a follower of Christ, we must always be compassionate and do what we can to ameliorate the plight of the oppressed and hurting.
Paul, like Nehemiah, had many adversaries to hinder him, but these men kept pressing through the doors of opportunity that God placed before them. Times are hard for many of you. Some of your marriages are struggling, some of your kids and grandkids are having a hard time, some have recently buried loved ones, and you miss them terribly. Some of you are asking, "Where is God?" Yes, times are hard personally, locally, nationally, and globally. But there is good news. Tomorrow we will look into the topic of God's goodness.
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