Favor

Nehemiah 2:5-8 ESV
“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.”

Nehemiah had a heart after God. When he heard the news of the condition of his homeland and the desecrated temple, he prayed and fasted for many days. God chose him to go to his homeland and rebuild the gates and the walls around Jerusalem.

Nehemiah by design was the cupbearer to the king, a very important job. A cup-bearer was historically an officer of high rank in royal courts, whose duty was to pour and serve the wine at the royal table. His duty was to protect the King from constant fear of plots such as poisoning. A cup bearer was regarded as thoroughly trustworthy to hold the position.

Nehemiah had the favor of God on his life, and now the favor of the King and soon the favor of the people in Jerusalem. When we have favor with God, God gives us favor with people because they see in us that God is working in us and through us.

Proverbs 3:3-4 says; “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.”

Prayer:
Father, I seek Your favor in my life. To do that, I know I must obey You and submit to Your will, not mine.