Love That Never Fails

73. A Compassionate Heart

The history of God's chosen people had seemingly ended in great sadness. About 1,000 years after Moses had brought them to the Promised Land and just 400 years before Jesus would be born, Israel as a nation, looked to be beyond repair. It seemed that nothing would ever be the same again!

Both the northern Jewish kingdom of Israel and then the southern Jewish kingdom of Judah were in ruins. Jerusalem had been conquered by the Babylonians and we already know the beautiful temple that Solomon built had been destroyed. The city was deserted with almost everyone having been deported to Babylon and this is where many began to make their home. It seemed they no longer wanted to return to the Promised land God had given them, although many still worshipped Him.

It was 70 long years of being held captive in Babylon before they were finally permitted to return to their homeland. Only a tiny percentage made the decision to go back and we saw yesterday in Ezra that they had finally rebuilt the temple. However, 15 years after that, the walls of Jerusalem were still broken down. It was not a safe place to live so the people would have been in a state of constant fear and stress! Even though they had tried to rebuild the walls, they had been interrupted when enemies came.

It's so special, amidst this devastating situation, to suddenly come upon the book of Nehemiah and to read of this man's interest in the state of Jerusalem, even though he lived in Persia, in the king's palace. It seems such an unlikely place to find a man with a heart for the well-being of God's people but this book is filled with surprises!

"The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven."
‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭1:1-4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What a compassionate heart this man had! It seemed like such a deep, heartfelt response rather than just a momentary feeling of sympathy a person might feel for a country doing it tough in COVID-19! It seemed that God was doing something in Nehemiah at heart level, for He was going to use him to make a difference in this situation with His special people. God chose Nehemiah as he was a leader with influence —just what was needed in order to make things happen!

Notice that Nehemiah didn't just go off and discuss the situation with others and complain that it was a terrible problem —he went straight to God in prayer. For some days he mourned, fasted and prayed. How often do we just spend time talking about a problem rather than actively praying so we could make a difference? We often distract ourselves away from feeling any true empathy for the plight of others by quickly moving on to deal with something else. Perhaps God is calling us to be part of a solution through our prayer and fasting.

Tomorrow we will look in detail at Nehemiah's prayer but right now, take a few minutes to look at the news and let God move you to pray for just one thing. Know that your prayers matter! God sees every single one of your tears and hears the cry of your heart!

Let's pray:

Heavenly Father,

What a joy it is to read through Your Word and to come to such an unexpected book! Just when things seemed so impossible for Your people, You touched the heart of Nehemiah with such deep compassion!

Lord I am so compelled to be more aware of praying and fasting for the needs of others, especially during this pandemic. I'm sorry for the times I have just swiped by news outlining the desperate needs of others, instead of immediately pausing to pray. Touch my heart today with compassion, and love for others. I want to make a difference in situations of all sizes. Help me to love others as You do.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen.