Nehemiah Accepts A Mission   THE POINT Nehemiah’s life was changed by accepting a dangerous, challenging mission that took him from the comfort zone to greatness.   BACKGROUND 608 BC - The Babylonians (Iraq) destroyed Jerusalem and carried off the Jewish upper and middle-class to Babylon as slaves.   538 BC - The Persians (Iran) conquered the Babylonians and allowed the Israelites to move about freely. About 50,000 Jews return to Jerusalem at this time.   458 BC – Ezra leads a team of about 1,500 Jewish leaders back to Jerusalem. They begin to rebuild but are stopped by other local tribal officials who had gained power and didn’t want to see Jerusalem rebuilt.   Nehemiah 1:1-4 (NLT) In late autumn, in the month of Kislev, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign, I was at the fortress of Susa. Hanani, one of my brothers, came to visit me with some other men who had just arrived from Judah. I asked them about the Jews who had returned there from captivity and about how things were going in Jerusalem. They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.   Nehemiah 1:8-11 (NIV) "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.' "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man."

FOUR MONTHS LATER… Nehemiah 2:1-4 (NIV) In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." I was very much afraid (terrified- NLT), but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?" The king said to me, "What is it you want?"   WORKING THE PLAN Nehemiah 2:5-8 (NLT) With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied, “If it please the king, and if you are pleased with me, your servant, send me to Judah to rebuild the city where my ancestors are buried.” The king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked, “How long will you be gone? When will you return?” After I told him how long I would be gone, the king agreed to my request. I also said to the king, “If it please the king, let me have letters addressed to the governors of the province west of the Euphrates River, instructing them to let me travel safely through their territories on my way to Judah. And please give me a letter addressed to Asaph, the manager of the king’s forest, instructing him to give me timber. I will need it to make beams for the gates of the Temple fortress, for the city walls, and for a house for myself.” And the king granted these requests, because the gracious hand of God was on me.   I LOVE THIS GUY Nehemiah had compassion for people AND faith in the promises of God. Nehemiah, like Jesus, left the throne room to a place of disgrace to make life better for those whose lives had been destroyed. This choice could have cost him his life at the hands of the king, and later from the local warlords. It took him from a comfortable government job, to a place in history.   OUR CHALLENGE For most of us, the comfort zone has disappeared.  The question is, “How do we react to it ?” Our options are to curl up and complain or to take the opportunity to do something great. The example of Jesus, Abraham, Moses, Mary, Joseph, Joseph, Nehemiah, and many others in the Bible is to draw close to God and to go for it.