The Holidays Are Over

As much as I love it, the craziness and chaos of the holidays is over and part of me is quite happy about that. We can settle back into a little bit of a routine again in BNX. This week we started a new series in our bible study time on Wednesday's that I have been looking forward to for several weeks. I did not want to start this during the holidays because I knew how many would miss out and I think this is going to be very good for the students. We are going to be studying the book of Nehemiah for the next several weeks. We are going to pretty much cover the entire book almost verse by verse. Last night we started that series with a bit of an introduction to the book and we dove into chapter 1.
I wanted to study this book with the students for several reasons. 1-This book will serve as a great follow-up to our series on the "God of Wonders". Nehemiah was burdened with a significant, monumental problem that he really could do nothing about on his on. However with God's guidance and strength he did something amazing. 2-Nehemiah is a book that gives us a great deal of insight into seeking and following God's will in our lives. God is sovereign and He does have a plan for us. How do we find it and follow it? Nehemiah can help students with those questions. 3-Nehemiah gives us some great leadership principles that we can apply to our own lives. Nehemiah was not a man that many would have likely thought of as a leader (as is the case with many teenagers) yet that is exactly how God intended to use him.
We looked at much of the historial background of the book, the setting in the Persian city of Susa and the situation in Jerusalem as reported to Nehemiah by his "brother" (vs 1-3). We spent the bulk of out time looking at Nehemiah's reaction to that report (vs 4-11). This reaction gives us numerous applications for today.
1) We see that Nehemiah had a real heart for his people. He wept and mourned for them...for days. We will never be able to lead people that we don't truly care about. Nehemiah was not necessarily equipped or trained to be a leader, but he loved his people, and God used that.
2)Nehemiah had a significant concern. His concern was so significant that he was moved to action. What are the things in our lives that we are so significantly concerned about that we are willing to take action to change them? These are the things that God may be placing on our hearts to show us his plans for our future.
3)Nehemiah knew exactly where to go with his concern...to his knees. Leadership always begins on our knees in prayer. Also, the process of determining God's will for our lives always begins on our knees in prayer.
4)Remember the promises of God in scripture. Nehemiah reminded himself of the promises that God had made generations before regarding the nation of Israel (vs 5 & 9). In difficult times we often need to fall back on His promises to sustain us and motivate us to persevere.
5)Sin is serious business. Nehemiah knew what the cause of Israel's struggles was their sin. He saw the need to confess not only his own sins, but those of his family, and even his nation.
6)God is sovereign. Chapter one finishes with a short statement that almost seems out of place in reference to the rest of the chapter but it has significant implications. "Now I was cupbearer to the king". This was a fairly high position...for a slave. A position where Nehemiah had to potentially lay down his life for the king of a foreign nation? A position where he was ultimately viewed as potentially disposable. Not a position most of us would sign up for but it was the perfect position for the plans that God had for Nehemiah. We may not be exactly where we want to be in life or where we think we should be...but we are exactly where God wants us to be.