Day 4
Now I
was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah
1:11
“I
was cupbearer to the king,” may be one of the most anemic of all statements in
the bible…or is it? What is Nehemiah telling us when he says that he was the
cup bearer to the king? Nehemiah recognizes that the position God has put him
in brought several advantages with it; he was close to the king, he had a
certain amount of influence, and he had a passion to see things done.
It
seems like on a weekly basis I have a conversation with someone who hates their
job, hates where they are in life, or wishes they could just start all over. They
have grown discontent and are unable to find the joy in what they do, no matter
how hard they try.
While
discontentment can serve a purpose, there are other times when it simply
distracts us. There are times when discontentment has value as it can cause us
to improve ourselves or deal with situations we have ignored. However,
discontentment can cause us to miss what God has placed right in front of us.
Just
as Nehemiah saw opportunity in his position, there are advantages to where God
has placed us. Maybe this day finds you contemplating what the future might
look like or how you can change it. May I encourage you to also consider what
God might be up to in your current situations. There are advantages that he has
given you for Kingdom purposes.
What
if Nehemiah, when he became aware of the desperate need in Jerusalem simply
said, “I’m a cupbearer. I’m not an engineer, and I certainly am not a
construction supervisor”? The walls of Jerusalem may very well be down to this
day. Instead, Nehemiah leveraged what he had and experienced success that
caused others to give glory to God. Leverage what God has given you.
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