Nehemiah 2:6-10 – The Plan
Not only was Nehemiah a man who had great faith he was also a man of great wisdom and practicality. When the king asked him about his journey he considered all that would be necessary to make his journey successful. He was able to tell the king how long he would need and also to ensure that he would be able to arrive safely. There could well have been difficulties passing through the various provinces on the other side of the river Euphrates, so Nehemiah asked for letters from the king that would gain his safe passage. If he was going to do a work of rebuilding he would obviously need sufficient building materials, and so he fearlessly asked the king to provide them, and such was evidence of the hand of God upon him that the king granted all his requests.
It is quite clear that Nehemiah had a plan! This is, of course a reflection of the way in which God works; God is a planning God. Psalm 33:11. This is seen pre-eminently in the divine plan for the salvation of the elect. God made his choice of his people in eternity, planned the coming and work of Christ to the last detail, and continues to execute his plan in the salvation of sinners.
The plans that we make may not always be wise or feasible, and our plans may not always come to fruition. It is also true that God does sometimes bless in spite of a lack of planning on our part, nevertheless God does work through planning – if not ours, then His. ‘Faith is no substitute for planning. We aren’t more spiritual for failing to plan and for shooting from the hip. There may be sometimes when we simply can’t plan, but we should never reject planning. Proverbs 21:5.’ (David Guzik).
Questions
- What did Nehemiah ask for?
- How do we know that God plans things?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks for God’s plan of salvation.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.