Nehemiah 1:10 Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and by thy strong hand.
When God Owns Your Life
I have a friend who says that it is better to have a friend who owns a boat than to own a boat yourself. His thinking is that if you have a friend who owns a boat, he owns all the problems of the boat and you own the pleasure of a day out on the lake. The man who owns the boat owns its problems, as well. Likewise, there is a peace in recognizing the ownership of God. There is a peace in surrendering your life to Him.
Nehemiah very graphically illustrates this wonderful truth. Nehemiah lived in captivity but in prosperity in the palace of the conquering king. He had safety, security, and comfort, yet he knew that the remnant, those who were left in Jerusalem after the captivity, were in great affliction and reproach. Jerusalem was broken down and the gates were burned. Verse 4 says, “And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven.” What follows is Nehemiah’s prayer.
Nehemiah took ownership of the problem. Before you can change anything where you are you have to, instead of passing blame, take ownership of the problem. Nehemiah, though he wasn’t personally living in Jerusalem, thought of it as “we,” “ours,” and “us.” He was thinking about other people. He sat down, wept, and fasted, but most importantly he prayed. He took ownership of the problem, but he transferred ownership of that problem to God.
People who are unaffected by the needs where they are aren’t going to make a difference. The people who change things are people who see a need and, instead of passing blame or complaining, take on that burden themselves. Nehemiah saw the needs, identified what to pray about, and owned it. Most importantly, he quickly turned that ownership over to God.
In the verses that follow, Nehemiah seems to be emphasizing that he was God’s servant. He reminded himself of what God had said. Verse 10 says, “Now these are thy servants and thy people, whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power, and thy strong hand. O Lord, I beseech thee, let thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I prayer thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.”
Nehemiah recognized the place he held and the place God held. As to God’s place, He was the LORD. When Nehemiah recognized that God was the LORD, he was recognizing that God owned and had a covenant with Israel. There is peace in recognizing the ownership of God. When God owns your life, you can give Him your problems. There is a sense in which God owns your problems when God owns your life. Many times I’ve said, “God, this is not my Ranch, my week, or my day. God, it belongs to You.” There is a peace in that, and it is a peace that comes from recognizing and living within the ownership of God.