Handling Catastrophe like Nehemiah

Nehemiah was concerned about his people and his homeland. He worked in a place of privilege yet did not let that keep him from relating to those who were hurting. What can we learn from him?

1. We need to continue to show concern for others.

In Nehemiah 1:2, he "... And I asked them concerning..." Reach out with concern to find out how others are doing. If we each reach those in our circles that we know may be hurting, there will be less lonely and hurt folks out there. We can even use social distancing in this era of social media to stay in touch with those who are the most at risk. With this we keep ourselves safe too. Yet we still show we care.

2. We need to stay in prayer and also fasting

Nehemiah 1:4 "I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven." Nehemiah's situation is not equal to our crisis today. I am not making an equivalency to our time. What I am bringing light to is Nehemiah's response.

Today, just as in Nehemiah's there is a need for fervent prayer, for mourning and fasting. Crying out to God for the repentance of our Nation is never a bad desire. And as our Country goes through a crisis where we are broken down, our economy, people, our government, are all trying to figure this out. We can spend time getting God's direction. That is never bad.

3. In our sadness let us seek the wisdom of God

Nehemiah 2: 4 Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So, I prayed to the God of heaven." We are all effected by this virus. Our lives our impacted in a way we have never seen. Is sadness a correct emotion? Absolutely! We are mourning our loss. We have fear to fight, and get through to faith. Our emotional cup is spilling over in so many ways. As believers we may want to put on a brave face. It is ok to be honest, but we must offer the sage answers of Scripture. We need to take moments, to look to heaven and ask God how to answer folks in ways that are relevant. Yet, relevant for the soul first.

Again, there is a separation of the events from Nehemiah to today. To look at these passages as an equivalence is to destroy the text. However, those who want to learn how to react in catastrophe Nehemiah has lessons to adopt.

A. Let's ask, how we might help.

B. Keep prayer our focus, and fasting should be an option.

C. Remember feigning bravery isn't necessary, but real wisdom from God through hurting Believers, who are dependent on their Savior and Lord, to hurting people, really can make a difference.

Let's use the Nehemiah strategy. It is fully reliant on God (F.R.O.G) and in that we will be valuable to the world around us.