Nehemiah 1:4 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.
Do you remember when you were ten years old? Did you have worries, possessions, or anything? If you did, it wasn’t much in most cases. Now some people had quite a bit of worry when they were ten years old, but when most people are ten years old, they don’t have much, including worries. When I was ten, I had hand-me-down tennis shoes, a used bicycle, and not much else. When I think about how many worries I had, I didn’t have many of those either. Ironically enough, worries for a ten-year-old are just as big to him as worries are for a fifty-year-old because you grow to match the problems you have. At least, that’s the way it should be.
Nehemiah was a man who took on problems that did not belong to him. He was Jewish and lived in Shushan the palace. He had a good job as the king’s cup bearer. So, he lived in one of a couple of palaces, the place of power, and the truth was that he was a prosperous slave. By that I mean he had no food, but he never went hungry. He had no house, but he lived in a palace. He had no clothing, but he lived as a king’s courtier. In short, he lived by the provision of and at the pleasure of the conquering king.
Well, he came across some of this brothers, other Jewish men, who came from Jerusalem. The report they gave about those who were living in Jerusalem after the captivity was characterized by four words, “affliction,” “reproach,” “broken,” and “burned.” That is what Jerusalem was and that is what many of the people in Jerusalem were. All of a sudden Nehemiah, who owned nothing, owned a problem. He owned a problem of Jerusalem, walls leveled, the temple burned, the people subjugated, and he had worries. He had a problem.
The truth is the more you have, the more you have to worry about. There’s an old adage that it is better to have a friend who owns a boat than to own a boat. There’s some truth to that. The friend can pay the insurance and do the maintenance, but you can enjoy the boat on the lake if he allows you to come. Now, God doesn’t want you to share your life with Him or share your problems with Him. He wants you to give Him both.
In Nehemiah 1:5, Nehemiah says, “I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments.” Nehemiah calls God the “LORD” meaning literally “Yahweh.” This speaks to God’s ownership; He owned His people. He was responsible for His people. Nehemiah calls God the “God of heaven.” That speaks to God’s sovereignty. He wasn’t just the God of a broken-down city; He was the God of the universe. Nehemiah calls God “the great and terrible.” This speaks to God’s power; if nothing could be too big for God, than how could you insult God with how small your need or request is to Him. Then he calls God the God “that keepeth covenant.” Verses 6-9 emphasize this, and Nehemiah says, “Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses….” Then he talks about “thy servants” and “thy people,” the Jewish people. He talks about “thy great power” and “thy strong hand.” In other words, “God, this is all Yours.”
Here is something that is so important for us to remember: the more God owns, the less you worry. If you own all your possessions, then you own all the accompanying problems. But if God owns everything, then God can own the problems that you have. I’m not talking about throwing off responsibility. I’m talking about taking on responsibility knowing that you are not alone.
What we do is say, “God, this is my money, and I need more of it.” Ok, well if it is your money, then you worry about it. If it is God’s money, then ask Him to provide. We say, “God, this is my son, and I want you to straighten him out.” If it is your son, then you figure it out. If God owns your family, then God can provide and help. If you say, “God, these are my plans. I want you to rubber stamp them.” No! But, if God is the One calling the shots, then God is the One Who can worry about it.
Nehemiah was a man who owned nothing because he gave it away. Physically, as a servant, he owned nothing, but lacked for nothing. As one who belonged to God, he owned no problems because he gave those diligently to God. The more God owns the less you worry.