TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
The Bible generally teaches the wisdom of staying quiet until you know you are to speak. And a powerful opportunity to speak arose in the book of Nehemiah in the Bible. We read yesterday in Nehemiah 1 that he was cupbearer to King Artaxerxes in Persia when he heard that the wall of Jerusalem had been breached and damaged. Praying and fasting in sadness, the Lord found a way to even use his despair to advance a godly cause. So, as you read chapter two of Nehemiah below, be ready to “pray and ask” as Nehemiah did when the godly opportunity arises.
(Nehemiah 2:2-6) 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, 2 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, 3 but I said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?”
4 The king said to me, “What is it you want?” Then I prayed to the God of heaven, 5 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 ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” 6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?” It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.