No purpose too small

Nehemiah was a Jewish man who worked in a Persian palace as a cupbearer more than a thousand miles away from his home of Jerusalem. A cupbearer would bring the King his wine, after tasting it to make sure no-one had spiked it with poison. Nehemiah served the king regularly with a joyful spirit.

In the twentieth year of the King’s reign, Nehemiah’s brother and some other friends had come from Jerusalem and they begin to share with Nehemiah about the condition of their homeland. They told him that they had a temple in Jerusalem, but the temple nor the people living the city had any protection because the city walls were a wreck. When Nehemiah heard this report he was devastated and began to weep. For four months he fasted and prayed before God about the condition of his home.

When Nehemiah went to serve before the King he noticed Nehemiah’s countenance was sad and he asked Nehemiah what was wrong. When Nehemiah shared with him about the wall of his country the king asked him what he needed. Nehemiah prayed to God and then he answered the King. Nehemiah asked for an extended leave of absence to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall. He asked the king for supplies for the wall, for lumber to build himself a house and an armed escort of soldiers and charioteers for a round trip of more than 2,000 miles.

Up until this point in Nehemiah’s life he was content with what he was doing, but God had placed another purpose on his heart. Sometimes we can feel like what we are doing has nothing to do with impacting the kingdom of God, but as we see in the story of Nehemiah that is so far from the truth! At first glance, one may think that the job of a cupbearer was not serving any purpose for the kingdom.  However we learn that because Nehemiah had served diligently and well for the king; the king had come to love and respect him.  The king asked Nehemiah “Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill?” This can be nothing but sadness of heart.” (Nehemiah 2:2)

When Nehemiah shared with the king his heart the king granted all that Nehemiah had requested. If Nehemiah had not served faithfully in his responsibility he would not have been in the position to request the resources needed to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that would protect the temple and the people.

We may never understand or feel like what we are doing is for God’s purpose. However, our responsibility is to do our very best at whatever we have been assigned. We must remember that no matter where we are right now, God has purpose in it! He is working it out for our good and for his glory and it will impact the kingdom! Amen!

Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11

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