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Now let's dive into today's teaching with Pastor Skip Heitzig. Nehemiah chapter 2. What is the purpose of life? A city worker in the city of Chicago. Describe life.
By saying, I dig the ditch. To earn the money. To buy the food. To get the strength. To dig the ditch.
to earn the money. to buy the food, to get the strength. To dig the ditch. And it is that endless cycle that for too many people. Sums up their life.
It's been said that most men lead lives of quiet. desperation. But that is not what I read that Jesus intended life to be. He said, I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly. It sounds to me that extraordinary life.
is more what he wants rather than just Ordinary existence, breathing. I have said it before that the two most significant days of your life are the day you were born. and then the day you discovered what you were born for. The day you were born, that's your coming. It's when you enter the world.
What you were born for, that's your calling. That's your mission. That's your purpose. I think one of my, if not my favorite story of Abraham Lincoln, because it has to do with preachers. Abraham Lincoln at the height of the Civil War went to church on a Sunday morning, walked from the White House to the Presbyterian church.
in Washington, DC. His heart was burdened because It was the darkest time in our country's history. the height of the Civil War. He entered the church. He needed a word from God.
After the sermon, one of his aides who came with him said, So, what did you think of the sermon? President Lincoln being deferential and kind. said well I thought the preacher was logical. I thought he was organized. I thought he was clear.
I thought he was sincere. The aide said.
So then you like the sermon? He thought it was good. Lincoln said, no, I think he failed. Because he did not ask of us something great. Lincoln instinctively knew that men and women should be encouraged.
to find God's call. and purpose something great. For their lives. Lincoln himself discovered that his purpose was to lead this country through its darkest hour. Moses in the Old Testament discovered his purpose was to deliver.
The nation of Israel from bondage. Jeremiah the prophet would discover that his purpose was to speak. to power. in the country of Judah. And in this book, Nehemiah.
discovers his purpose is to build A City in Shambles The city of Jerusalem. We discovered last time in chapter one, the very last verse of chapter one. tells us that Nehemiah was a cupbearer. We told you that's a very influential position. It's not like a bus boy.
He was an advisor to the king. Chief of staff may be a better idea in our minds. He was the king's cupbearer. That was not his purpose. It was part of his purpose.
It was on the road to his ultimate purpose, but he knew that was not his life's. Calling. But one day he was having a conversation with his brother Hanani and the group that came back from Jerusalem, and he asked about the conditions, and they told him. It's horrible. It's desperate.
The city is broken down, the gates are burned with fire, the people are very discouraged. When Nehemiah heard that, he knew at that moment. That's my calling. That's my purpose. And so we remember from last time he wept and he prayed.
And now he rises up to act. In chapter 2, he enters into his purpose.
Now, get this: Nehemiah is willing to leave paradise. The Persian Palace and go to a dusty One horse town. At the time, Jerusalem was in ruin shambles. You know, a lot of people will relocate because of politics or job opportunities. But seldom will they say, I think God is calling me.
To that. Horrible place that conditioned. Desperate. Outpost. to rebuild.
But Nehemiah sensed that was his calling, his purpose. I believe that God wants us to be part of something great. I think it's time that we stop. spending our life and start investing. Or life.
And when it comes to purpose, The question is not what is my purpose for my life or what is My parents' purpose for my life, but what is God's? Purpose. What does he want? James in the New Testament says, Your life is a vapor. That's your life.
A vapor. It appears for a short time, then vanishes away.
So this is our moment. This is our little slice. of history called Our Life. We want to make it count. How do we do that?
Well, in chapter two, the first 10 verses are the verses we're going to cover. I want to show you some steps. In fact, I'm going to give you four, four steps to finding your purpose in life. finding your calling or at least confirming what it is. that you are called to.
First, And if you're taking notes, God bless you. You're my new best friend. First, Timing. Timing, developing a sense of timing, which includes waiting. for that timing.
Look at verse 1. Nehemiah chapter 2. It came to pass. In the month of Nisan, this is not the truck, this is the month. In the 12th or in the 20th year of Artaxerxes.
When the wine was before him, that I took the wine, gave it to the king.
Now I had never been sad. In his presence before remarkable statement. Therefore the king said to me, Why is your face sad? Since you are not sick. This is nothing but sorrow of heart.
So I became dreadfully afraid. I'll tell you why in a minute. And I said to the king, May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad when the city? The place of my father's tombs lies in waste and its gates are burned with fire.
Then the king said to me, What do you request? Stop there. When the book opened up, it was the month of Kislev. That was last week, Kislev. Kislev is December.
When chapter 2 opens up, It says it's the month of Nisan. That's four months later. That's April.
Now, back in chapter one, Nehemiah said, Lord, help me get strength this day. Before the king. Four months later, nothing has happened. For four months, listen, for four months, Nehemiah has done nothing but wait. And pray.
Chapter 1, he says, I'm praying day and night, day and night, day and night. I'm guessing he woke up in the morning and said, Lord, let this be the day. And if it is, just open a door as I speak to the king. But that day never came. The opportunity never came.
The door never opened. And it didn't come for four months until now.
Now the door opens. The timing is perfect. Although From the surface of things, it didn't look like it was perfect timing. In fact, it looked like it was really bad timing. Why do I say that?
Because the king looked at Nehemiah and noticed he was what? He was sad. And when the king noticed he was sad, Nehemiah... Said And I became dreadfully afraid. It's sort of odd.
We think, why would he become dreadfully afraid? He might say, oh, yeah, well, okay. No, I became dreadfully afraid. Why? Here's why.
Servants who worked for kings, monarchs. We're expected to always look happy. They probably had smiling training. Like companies do today. for customer service.
Kings were sheltered. from unhappiness. Sadness could be interpreted as dissatisfaction of the king, at which the king may banish or even kill the servant. That's why he became dreadfully afraid. You might remember in the book of Esther when Mordecai heard the news about the Jews.
Being prepared for slaughter, he put on sackcloth and ashes. But it says, but no one could enter the king's gate clothed in. Sacklaw. Same idea. You don't come before the king.
mourning or in sadness. I even came across In a book, a picture of the Persian ruins at Persepolis. would show engravings on the wall of the Persian king on the throne and servants coming before him with their right hand over covering their mouths.
so as not to defile the king with their bad breath.
So that's how serious a matter this was. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear, verse-by-verse Bible teaching available to people searching for truth, direction, and hope. And this month, we want to thank you with two powerful resources to help you follow God faithfully, even when life feels uncertain or challenging. When you give, you'll receive the Expound Nehemiah 7 Message CD series with digital download, along with Pastor Skip's booklet, Overcoming an Anxious Mind.
Together, these resources show you how God rebuilds what's broken, strengthens you when you face opposition, and gives you peace, even in seasons of pressure and waiting. We'll send both resources as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithgift.com slash offer.
Now, let's return to today's teaching.
So the king looks over at his cupbearer and notices The cup-bearer is bearing more than a cup. He's bearing a burden. His Heart is broken. He's got sorrow. in his heart.
Now Pause for a moment. And let me inject. a scripture you should know because it sort of sets and frames this beautifully. The text is Proverbs 21, verse 1. Let me read it to you.
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord. And like the rivers of water, he turns it wherever he wishes. The word rivers in Proverbs 21.1 means channels. Um We would say arroyos. These were diversion channels cut from the river to water the fields, and the king can make them go in, or God can make them go anywhere he wants to.
The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, and like the arroyos of water, he turns it wherever he wishes. He does that here, but he does it in his timing. There's a lot in the Bible about God's timing. God is never late. Do you know that?
Sometimes you think he is. Don't give me that look. I know that you've prayed before and you've got, God, I've been waiting like for weeks and months and even years. God is never late. He is always on time.
Your early is the problem. God is right on time. And developing that sense of timing is not easy because it means that we wait. And Who likes to wait? I'm not going to ask for a show of hands.
Because nobody likes to wait. We don't like long lines. We hate traffic jams. We don't like waiting two or three days for the doctor's office to give us the report for the exam we just had. Nobody likes to wait.
And Maybe you've discovered this. God has his own timetable. And it is seldom ours. We need to discover that. And Nehemiah is discovering that four months of praying and waiting and waiting and praying now lead up to a time.
Where the will of God will be presented.
So it's a sense of timing. Waiting on God is never a waste of time. It's always an investment of time.
So learn to wait well. Learn to wait patiently. One poet said, as children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend, I brought my broken dreams to God because he was my friend. But then Instead of leaving him, In peace to work alone, I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own. At last, I snatched them back and cried, How can you be so slow?
My child, he said, What could I do? You never did let go.
So Nehemiah prayed. Knew what God put on his heart, but he let go. He let go and he waited for four months. Timing. is the first step.
Second. Step. Trusting. Trusting. Now he has been trusting all along, but notice something in verse 4.
The king said to me, what do you request? It's like he's opening his checkbook. What would you like? What do you request?
So. I prayed. to the God of heaven. Man, this is the moment Nehemiah has been waiting for. The king is favorable.
How can I help? What do you want me to do? That little question, what do you request, all of the power and wealth of the kingdom of Persia is wrapped up in that one question. He's the king. He can.
Call all the shots. But I find it interesting as soon as the king asked the question.
So I prayed to the God of heaven.
Now don't misunderstand this. He doesn't go off. kneel down somewhere for an hour. And then come back. This was a quick prayer.
This is a Popcorn prayer. This was an emergency room prayer. It was in an instant, something probably like. God help me now. You know, some prayers can't be long.
You recall when Peter was walking on the water for that very short period of time after Jesus walked on the water and said, Come on, Peter. And it worked. Peter's walking on the water until he sees the storm and he starts sinking, right? The Bible records That Peter said, here's his prayer, Lord. Save me.
Three words. Three words. He's sinking. You don't have time for all God of the universe, heavenly father. He'd be dead.
All he could get out was, Lord, save me. Aren't you glad the Bible doesn't say the long-winded? Prayer. Of a righteous man avails much. It says the effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
One commentator put it this way: silence would have been misinterpreted. Had he Nehemiah closed his eyes and lingered in devotion, The king immediately would have suspected Treason.
So it was a quick God. Help me. I do need to say this, however. Quick prayers only work if you have a prayer life. Quick prayers are only effective if longer prayers have been in place beforehand, and they were for Nehemiah.
He prayed day and night for four months. This little prayer at that moment, this popcorn prayer, was simply an act of trust. He'd always trusted. He trusted again when the king said, What would you like?
Now, I want you to notice something else. It just sort of stuck out to me this week. I'd never noticed it before. He says, verse 4, I prayed to the God. What does it say after that?
The God of heaven.
Now, that happens to be a Nehemiah description of God. It's very frequently found in this book. Nehemiah refers to God as the God of heaven. And we noted last week that When you realize who you're praying to and where the one you're praying to sits, heaven. He has the best vantage point in the universe.
that will fortify your faith. You're trusting.
So, no matter what's going on around you in your life, you are talking to the God. of heaven. And so think of the perspective. Look around your world. Is evil abounding?
Yeah. Is Satan deceiving people? Yes. Is the city in shambles? Yes, but is God still on his eternal throne?
Yeah. He's the God of heaven. When you realize this, It fortifies your trust.
So this is trusting. By the way, this is why worship is so important. This is why we have worship songs before a sermon. We don't have 30 minutes of worship, so latecomers can come and find a seat. We have that to get your perspective rightly adjusted.
As the songs remind you of who he is, what he has done. And what he can do. When you kneel before the king in heaven, you can stand before any king on earth. Here's Nehemiah standing before this king. He has been on his knees before the king of heaven.
He's about to ask.
Some pretty hefty requests. But he is confident God has called him to do this. While you are waiting for God's timing, you need to couple that with trust. And here's what I'm saying you need to trust God for: trust that God. is big enough.
and cares enough to reveal to you what he wants you to do, what his purpose for your life is. In fact, I would say God is more anxious to reveal his will to you than you are to have his will revealed to you. And God is God, and God is able to do that. Even though you can't see it at this moment. That's where the trust comes in.
Proverbs 3: Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and maybe he'll direct your paths. And he will. Direct your paths.
Trust.
So, timing followed by trusting, third step. Testing. Testing. Now, here's Nehemiah. He believes God has called him to go rebuild Jerusalem, but he doesn't want to presume.
He wants to test that. He wants to test what he has felt God has placed on his heart. Because he wants to know for sure.
So there's three tests here. Test number one, he is honest about the problem. Verse 3. He says, May the king live forever. Why should my face not be sad?
Now he just spits out the problem: when the city, the place of my father's tombs, lies waste. and its gates are burned. with fire. Nehemiah New This was the day it's time to put up or shut up. I got to just spit it out and be honest about the problem.
If this is the purpose for which I was born, I'm going to find out soon enough by just saying, Here's the issue.
Now I just want to point something out. Because it shows up twice in this text. He refers to his father's tombs, the place of my father's tombs. I think he did that for a very important reason. King Artaxerxes Langemannus would not have cared that Jerusalem is broken down.
With fire, the walls are enchantment. He wouldn't care. But what he would care about. is respecting the dead. And it was a core value in antiquity and in the Persian court to honor the tombs of your fathers.
So Nehemiah brought that up as well. Smart move. That's the first test. He's honest about the problem. Second test, He has a bold request.
To ask the king if he can quit. Leave his position as cupbearer. Verse 5: I said to the king, If it pleases the king, if your servant has found favor in your sight. I ask that you send me To Judah To the city of my father's tombs. that I may rebuild it.
Then the king said to me, The queen also sitting beside him. How long will your journey be? And when will you return?
Now this is quite a test. Let me explain why. If you are Bible students, you may recall the book right before Nehemiah is what book? Ezra. In Ezra chapter four, this king, Artaxerxes, had issued a decree previous to Nehemiah, He had issued a decree that the building in Jerusalem must stop.
C's So when Nehemiah comes and says, I want you to send me to Judah to build the city that you canceled. It's a bold request. I'm asking you to reverse your foreign policy regarding Jerusalem. You sent a letter to stop building. I'd like to start that building up again.
Um Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember, your generosity helps share God's word with people all around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it's needed most. And this month we'd love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you the Expound Nehemiah 7 Message CD series with digital download. Along with Pastor Skip's booklet, Overcoming an Anxious Mind. These resources will help you see how God rebuilds what's broken in your life and gives you peace, even in the middle of pressure and uncertainty.
Give today at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. We'll see you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection! Make a connection. Shouldn't have the foot of the crossing.
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