WOYWW: If My People

This is another envelope of goodies I prepared 

for a mail swap I joined for this month.

I put in a postcard I painted, and lots of scraps and stash 

from my box I play around with for my planner and collages.

"Why do you look sad?" Nehemiah 2:2

There are many evil kings in the Bible, but King Artaxerxes I of Persia was quite benevolent. He noticed that Nehemiah, his governor, looked sad and the King asked him what was the matter. Nehemiah then told him that Jerusalem was in ruins and the gates have been burned down.

Nehemiah found this out when his brother Hanani visited him. When he heard that his people in the city were in great trouble and disgrace, Nehemiah wept and prayed. "O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps His covenant of unfailing love with those who love Him and obey His commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for Your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against You. We have sinned terribly by not obeying Your laws."

Nehemiah then asked the King if he could take time off to rebuild the city. The whole book of Nehemiah then recounts how Nehemiah travelled to Jerusalem and organized the people to help rebuild the walls and the gates in spite of opposition from enemies. 

After the work was done, Ezra the priest read from the Book of the Law, the people fasted, confessed their sins, and promised to obey God. The book of Nehemiah can be a manual of what to do when our nation is in ruins and in disgrace. We may think that rallying and making noise is the answer but as usual God's ways are different from ours. First we have to pray, fast and confess our sins as a nation. We have to read God's laws and obey. We have to find walls to rebuild and make strong. It may be volunteering to teach poor children good values in Right Start or He Cares, helping to build homes in Gawad Kalinga and Habitat for Humanity, or getting to know our neighbors more.

"If my people who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

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Blessings!

Patsy