As we continue our journey through the life of Nehemiah, we have noted how he led the people in the vital task of supporting the remnant in Jerusalem and rebuilding the walls. I noted last time that Nehemiah was moved to bring this matter before the Lord. We talked about the importance of prayer in general, and how we need leaders who bring the burden of leadership before the Lord. As we think about what this looked like for Nehemiah, I would like to point out some elements that accompanied his prayer. Nehemiah did not just pray; his effort to bring Israel’s situation before God was accompanied by some other qualities which we must not overlook.
First, we see that emotion was involved. Nehemiah allowed himself to “feel” what was going on as he brought this matter before the Lord. I’m not one of those preachers who look out from the pulpit and say “when was the last time you cried!” I’ve sat under such men, who seemed to think that “brokenness” to the point of tears and an overflow of emotion was a necessary sign of the Spirit’s movement, and I have personally found that type of ministry style to be man-centered and very manipulative. But I will make this observation: Biblical Christianity involves our entire being, and that includes our emotions! We may not cry, but we do need to be moved. We do need to have a soft and tender heart to the things of God. We ought to be moved to a response when we hear the Word of God. This is why in my preaching I always preach for a response. If I do not call for a response after the Word is given, and help people know how they might apply the unfolding of the Biblical text, I have not completed my duty as a preacher!
But we need to be moved and truly feel what God wants us to feel. Think of some of the feelings Nehemiah was perhaps feeling at this time. He was overcome with sadness at the plight of God’s people—they were overrun by their enemies. He was perhaps angry over the fact that the walls of Jerusalem, and thus God’s nation, lay in ruins. There may have been some grief—“how will this situation ever resolve itself!” All sorts of emotions flooded his soul as he heard that God’s people were struggling and needed help!
I think the emotions Nehemiah expressed have a lesson for us. We can so easily make church, and our spiritual lives, nothing more than a regular rhythm or routine. In one sense they should be, but that rhythm can often become mindless. Just like you get up every morning, make breakfast, put on clothes, and go to work, every Sunday, you get up, make breakfast, put on clothes, and go to church. Our rhythm can be so routine that we may even do it without really thinking about it! If we are going to learn from the example of Nehemiah when it comes to church life and church ministry, we need to allow ourselves to feel! We need to celebrate the joy and feel the failures of our church and our members. I believe that this is the logical ramification of honest evaluation. Honest evaluation is pointless if we will not allow ourselves to celebrate the successes and feel the losses in church ministry!
Here Nehemiah stands as an example to us all. We need to be able to feel. We need to have hearts that are tender to the things of God and the situation of His people. We need to express our emotions intentionally and deliberately to God as we are moved with the ups and downs of life and ministry. One more thing—notice how long Nehemiah wept and mourned—for days. This was not a quick “oh that is too bad” before getting back to life. He really thought and dwelled on what was happening, what God was doing, and how He should feel about it. We need people like Nehemiah with hearts tender to the things of God who can feel the weight of what God is doing and run to Him with their emotions, expressing them honestly and openly before Him!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction . . . II Corinthians 1:3-4a
