Problems into Possibilities. Part 3 of 3.
Scripture: Nehemiah 1-2
Intro:
We are now finishing up our short study today in Nehemiah. If you can remember the previous 2 messages, we have learned that in order to turn our problems in possibilities we need to, number one learn to visualize our problems. Then, last time we met, we learned that we needed to agonize over our problems. That is to seek God, to be in confession and repentance. Not to feel sorry for your problems, but to be in prayer and fasting, to seek God and His will over our problems. Today we are going learn our third step in turning problems into possibilities and that is the need to organize. Sometimes people get so spiritual that they fail to do anything practical. The thing I like about Nehemiah is that he was deeply spiritual and intensely practical at the same time. For him prayer was not a substitute for action. And he didn’t go off helter-skelter when it came to accomplishing God’s will.
1. Making A Plan.
When Nehemiah learned that the walls of Jerusalem were in disarray, and God began to move his heart; his mind began to work. He began praying and formulating a plan. Do you know what he was doing? He was thinking the thoughts of God after Him. Some people don’t want a plan. They think that if you organize, you are unspiritual. Friends, you’re unspiritual if you don’t organize and I believe you’re unspiritual if you don’t plan. Our God is a very practical God Who tells us to do everything decently and in order. ( 1 Corin 14:40). In this passage, Nehemiah is organizing and planning, and God is blessing his plans. Listen as I read:
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king, I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah 2:1-4.
Now if you know the story of Nehemiah, you know why he was terrified when King Artaxerxes noticed that he was looking sad on this day. No servant would dare come into the presence of the king with a sad face. That would be to make the king sad, and that was an unforgivable act punishable by death. No wonder Nehemiah was afraid, but he had a burden on his heart that was so big that he couldn’t hide it. What was laid on his heart showed on his face. But I want to say that Nehemiah was more that just sad. He had prayed and sought the face of God for wisdom concerning the possibility that the king would look with favor on him instead of having him executed.
2. Praying for an Opportunity.
It had been four months since Nehemiah had received the bad report about Jerusalem. Undoubtedly he had not only been praying about the problem, but he had been doing some planning as well. When the king asked Nehemiah what he wanted, Nehemiah prayed and talked at the same time. He offered a quick prayer to God for the boldness and courage he needed to speak out. And I’m sure he prayed that God would open the king’s heart.
3. Making the Request.
By now Nehemiah knew exactly what he wanted. So he asked King Artaxerxes for three things that I believe that you and I should also ask of God.
A. The First thing Nehemiah asked for was the King’s permission:
And I answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.” Nehemiah 2:5
Friends, before any of us do anything in the name of Jesus, we had better get His permission. I believe that it is as dangerous to run ahead of God as it is to run behind Him. You may say, “Well, he didn’t need an earthly king’s permission.” May I say to you that it wasn’t the king who was giving Nehemiah permission to go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Did you know that all earthly kings are under the control of the Heavenly King? Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases.” Friends, this is the reason Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven. He was asking first of all for the heavenly King’s favor and permission.
B. Nehemiah Asked for the King’s protection.
I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah?”
Nehemiah knew that along the way to Jerusalem, the authorities would stop him and ask, “Who are you and what right do you have to travel through here?” What Nehemiah wanted were letters of authority to shoe these authorities that King Artaxerxes had sent him. Aren’t you glad that as God’s children, we have our heavenly Father’s protection? Aren’t you glad that He has given us His Holy Word to protect us? Aren’t you glad that He has given us His authority? Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19. The word power is the word for authority. The same word is used in Matthew 28:18 where Jesus tells all power has been given to Him. Then He mad the wonderful promise: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, Amen.”
C. Finally, Nehemiah wanted the King’s provision.
“And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gate of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” Nehemiah 2:8
Nehemiah told the king, “This is what I want in the way of building materials, and I want you to give them to me.” Listen here, “and because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.” V8. You see, the issue wasn’t what this earthly king decided to do or not to do. Artaxerxes was only a tool in the hand of the King of kings. His heart was in the hand of the Lord, Who turned it where He wanted, as we just read in the book of Proverbs. The remaining chapters are the record of Nehemiah’s success in turning a great problem into an incredible possibility. Nehemiah visualized the problem, he agonized before the Lord about it until he had prayed it through and was ready to make a commitment. Then, he secured God’s blessing, permission, protection, and provision in making his plan and turning it into reality.
4. Your Great Possibility.
What does the example of Nehemiah mean to us today? It means that if we will visualize our problem until God gives us a burden, we can take the same steps that Nehemiah took. Then, if we take that burden and agonize in prayer over until we know that we’ve confessed our sins and made a commitment, we can have the confidence Nehemiah had when he took his problem to God. When you have agonized over the problem, then you have every right to organize and go to work. You have every right to look into the face of your God and say, “Dear God, I want Your permission; I want Your protection; and I want Your provision because I am getting ready to rise up and build.” What problem are you facing today that God wants to turn into a great possibility? The bible says, “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.” Daniel 11:32. This does not say that if we do not have problems, we will do exploits. Nor does it say that we won’t be able to do exploits until we solve all our problems. Friends, we will never solve all our problems. Problems are universal, and they are real. But so is our wonderful God. Can He turn even our biggest problems into possibilities? The answer is an everlasting and absolute YES!!
Conclusion:
No matter what your hurt, God can turn it into a hallelujah. He can turn every tear into a pearl, every dark night into a sunrise. Christianity is not the subtraction of problems; it is the addition of power to overcome problems. So take courage! “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Duet 33:27a. God will give you peace “that passes all understanding” Phil. 4:7b. even in the midst of the most pressing and distressing problems. May God help you to see the possibilities for great exploits in your problems.
Pastor Harold Trent.
Scripture: Nehemiah 1-2
Intro:
We are now finishing up our short study today in Nehemiah. If you can remember the previous 2 messages, we have learned that in order to turn our problems in possibilities we need to, number one learn to visualize our problems. Then, last time we met, we learned that we needed to agonize over our problems. That is to seek God, to be in confession and repentance. Not to feel sorry for your problems, but to be in prayer and fasting, to seek God and His will over our problems. Today we are going learn our third step in turning problems into possibilities and that is the need to organize. Sometimes people get so spiritual that they fail to do anything practical. The thing I like about Nehemiah is that he was deeply spiritual and intensely practical at the same time. For him prayer was not a substitute for action. And he didn’t go off helter-skelter when it came to accomplishing God’s will.
1. Making A Plan.
When Nehemiah learned that the walls of Jerusalem were in disarray, and God began to move his heart; his mind began to work. He began praying and formulating a plan. Do you know what he was doing? He was thinking the thoughts of God after Him. Some people don’t want a plan. They think that if you organize, you are unspiritual. Friends, you’re unspiritual if you don’t organize and I believe you’re unspiritual if you don’t plan. Our God is a very practical God Who tells us to do everything decently and in order. ( 1 Corin 14:40). In this passage, Nehemiah is organizing and planning, and God is blessing his plans. Listen as I read:
In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king, I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?” The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven. Nehemiah 2:1-4.
Now if you know the story of Nehemiah, you know why he was terrified when King Artaxerxes noticed that he was looking sad on this day. No servant would dare come into the presence of the king with a sad face. That would be to make the king sad, and that was an unforgivable act punishable by death. No wonder Nehemiah was afraid, but he had a burden on his heart that was so big that he couldn’t hide it. What was laid on his heart showed on his face. But I want to say that Nehemiah was more that just sad. He had prayed and sought the face of God for wisdom concerning the possibility that the king would look with favor on him instead of having him executed.
2. Praying for an Opportunity.
It had been four months since Nehemiah had received the bad report about Jerusalem. Undoubtedly he had not only been praying about the problem, but he had been doing some planning as well. When the king asked Nehemiah what he wanted, Nehemiah prayed and talked at the same time. He offered a quick prayer to God for the boldness and courage he needed to speak out. And I’m sure he prayed that God would open the king’s heart.
3. Making the Request.
By now Nehemiah knew exactly what he wanted. So he asked King Artaxerxes for three things that I believe that you and I should also ask of God.
A. The First thing Nehemiah asked for was the King’s permission:
And I answered the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it.” Nehemiah 2:5
Friends, before any of us do anything in the name of Jesus, we had better get His permission. I believe that it is as dangerous to run ahead of God as it is to run behind Him. You may say, “Well, he didn’t need an earthly king’s permission.” May I say to you that it wasn’t the king who was giving Nehemiah permission to go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Did you know that all earthly kings are under the control of the Heavenly King? Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases.” Friends, this is the reason Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven. He was asking first of all for the heavenly King’s favor and permission.
B. Nehemiah Asked for the King’s protection.
I also said to him, “If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah?”
Nehemiah knew that along the way to Jerusalem, the authorities would stop him and ask, “Who are you and what right do you have to travel through here?” What Nehemiah wanted were letters of authority to shoe these authorities that King Artaxerxes had sent him. Aren’t you glad that as God’s children, we have our heavenly Father’s protection? Aren’t you glad that He has given us His Holy Word to protect us? Aren’t you glad that He has given us His authority? Jesus said, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19. The word power is the word for authority. The same word is used in Matthew 28:18 where Jesus tells all power has been given to Him. Then He mad the wonderful promise: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world, Amen.”
C. Finally, Nehemiah wanted the King’s provision.
“And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gate of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?” Nehemiah 2:8
Nehemiah told the king, “This is what I want in the way of building materials, and I want you to give them to me.” Listen here, “and because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.” V8. You see, the issue wasn’t what this earthly king decided to do or not to do. Artaxerxes was only a tool in the hand of the King of kings. His heart was in the hand of the Lord, Who turned it where He wanted, as we just read in the book of Proverbs. The remaining chapters are the record of Nehemiah’s success in turning a great problem into an incredible possibility. Nehemiah visualized the problem, he agonized before the Lord about it until he had prayed it through and was ready to make a commitment. Then, he secured God’s blessing, permission, protection, and provision in making his plan and turning it into reality.
4. Your Great Possibility.
What does the example of Nehemiah mean to us today? It means that if we will visualize our problem until God gives us a burden, we can take the same steps that Nehemiah took. Then, if we take that burden and agonize in prayer over until we know that we’ve confessed our sins and made a commitment, we can have the confidence Nehemiah had when he took his problem to God. When you have agonized over the problem, then you have every right to organize and go to work. You have every right to look into the face of your God and say, “Dear God, I want Your permission; I want Your protection; and I want Your provision because I am getting ready to rise up and build.” What problem are you facing today that God wants to turn into a great possibility? The bible says, “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him.” Daniel 11:32. This does not say that if we do not have problems, we will do exploits. Nor does it say that we won’t be able to do exploits until we solve all our problems. Friends, we will never solve all our problems. Problems are universal, and they are real. But so is our wonderful God. Can He turn even our biggest problems into possibilities? The answer is an everlasting and absolute YES!!
Conclusion:
No matter what your hurt, God can turn it into a hallelujah. He can turn every tear into a pearl, every dark night into a sunrise. Christianity is not the subtraction of problems; it is the addition of power to overcome problems. So take courage! “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Duet 33:27a. God will give you peace “that passes all understanding” Phil. 4:7b. even in the midst of the most pressing and distressing problems. May God help you to see the possibilities for great exploits in your problems.
Pastor Harold Trent.
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