Praying to God and Posting a Guard 

Dear Friends:

In Nehemiah 4:9, a short, overlooked and profound
passage is found which reads as follows:  "we prayed
to our God and posted a guard."

As you will recall the story of Nehemiah, Nehemiah was
sent to Jerusalem by the king to with the authority to
rebuild the wall.  He is vehemently opposed by two
individuals, Sanballat and Tobiah, and their cronies.
  The returning Israelites are forced to complete their
work in odd fashion - half of them work while half of
them stand guard.

When Nehemiah finds out about the plot, he records our
focus verse:  "we prayed to our God and posted a
guard."

Perhaps you have struggled with the balance between
faith and practical action.  When faced with a
situation, do we take immediate action or wait for an
answer to our prayers?

The amazing thing about this little verse is how
practical it is for all of us.  We all face Sanballats
and Tobiahs in life.  We are trying to do the best we
can and for every block we built on the wall, they
tear two down.  We are faced with the question of what
we are to do about it.  We can determine ourselves to
work twice as hard.  We can sit back and pray that God
will provide and answer.  Nehemiah provides us with a
little key that it might not be one or the other, but
both.

So many times when faced with life's adversity, we
will try to overcome with our own strength.  We don't
necessarily seek the Lord's guidance in our endeavor,
but depend on ourselves or others.  On the other hand,
we may be tempted to wash our hands completely of the
whole thing and simply ask God to fix everything.

Nehemiah didn't do just one, but both.  He prayed and
asked God's guidance and then acted.  His actions were
not impetuous or prideful, but an act of faith.  We
recall that the "faith" chapter of Hebrews 11 is not
just men and women who sat around, but people of
action.  Abel offered.  Noah prepared an ark.  Abraham
obeyed and went out.  Sara conceived.  Moses refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter and forsook
Egypt.  Rahab received the spies.  Their faith in God
could not be confined to the mind alone.

In the coming new year, it would benefit us all to
pray to God and post a guard.  Ask God for the
strength, guidance and blessing of success in
whatsoever we put our hands to do and then get to
work.

"And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles,
and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be
not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is
great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your
sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.
   And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it
was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel
to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall,
every one unto his work."  (Neh. 4:14-15)

Have a great week!

Kyle