Nehemiah 2:1-8 ESV
In the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I took up the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had not been sad in his presence. And the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, seeing you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart." Then I was very much afraid. I said to the king, "Let the king live forever! Why should not my face be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' graves, lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" Then the king said to me, "What are you requesting?" So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' graves, that I may rebuild it." And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), "How long will you be gone, and when will you return?" So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, "If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me 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 of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy." And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me.
Okay so we have all been there. We might be at church, school or any place where we interact with other believers. We may be caring burdens from our day with us. Burdens that we may not even realize are weighing us down. Sometimes know about them and try to hide them underneath the vail of a grin. Whether we know why we are sad or not I face automatically changes based on our mood. some get nervous and turn red. Some have been crying and just can't hold back the water works. Either way we all can't fully hide our emotions. Our brothers and sisters in Christ are right through our pointless attempts to hide our moods. They might say " Are you doing okay?" . Inside we want to say no. We want to scream for help, but the deciever pulls on the puppet string of pride. We begin to legitimize a lie. "They can't know. I would be too embarrassed. I better lie.". It's just 3 words " I'm doing great " "I'm okay" " I'm good", but it's still a lie. But that's just where it's starts.
Your friends tries again, "Are you sure?"
You reply. "Positive ".
Just one word this time, but it's still a sin. Pretty soon it's spreads . Suddenly everyone is swarming you. All across the room you leave a trail of lies. You've made excuses for your own conscience, but that doesn't pardon you from the righteous God. While this sin of lying is wrong. It is not the issue we will address. God has, can, and will pardon you for it. The point we need to learn is that we should not let pride take control of us. In this passage we see what happens when we break free from the cage of pride. Nehemiah had the King take notice of the sadness he could not hide. When the king asked "What wrong?" Nehemiah did not hold back. It may have been because Nehemiah was just an honest guy. It may also have been because he knew better than to lie to the most powerful man in the land. Truly if anyone could help him it was the king. Considered this my friend, next time you are confronted with the question "Are you okay?" Why not respond was if that person can solve your problem. Because for sure the one up above can provide for you. Maybe He moved that person to talk to you. So that your problem could be mended and joy return.
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