Christian Devotional – January 5, 2020

Day 5 – It all comes back to God. Read Nehemiah 2:5-10.

I said to the king, “If it please the king, and if your servant has found favor before you, send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time. And I said to the king, “If it please the king, let letters be given me for the governors of the provinces beyond the River, that they may allow me to pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress which is by the temple, for the wall of the city and for the house to which I will go.” And the king granted them to me because the good hand of my God was on me. Then I came to the governors of the provinces beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent with me officers of the army and horsemen. When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about it, it was very displeasing to them that someone had come to seek the welfare of the sons of Israel.
Nehemiah 2:5‭-‬10 NASB
https://bible.com/bible/100/neh.2.5-10.NASB

The king asked what Nehemiah wanted and even with Nehemiah checking in with God first, he still knew what help he was going to need from the king. So, here he asks for it. There is a lot of detail in his request and shows the thought and plans of someone who had been praying about it for four months.

Still, after all that he requested, when the king gave it to him, he praised God, not the king. It’s very important to understand where our help actually comes from. Yes, the king did follow up on what was being asked if him, but ultimately, it is God who supplies our needs and God is the one who deserves the praise and glory for it.

Are we praising God for what he is doing? Do we give him credit for the answers and responses that he makes happen in our lives? Everything that we have is a result of what God has provided to us. Have we praised Him today?