Nehemiah 1:11 // Summer of Scripture

Welcome to Summer of Scripture on the Naked marriage podcast. For 66 days in a row, we're releasing a short daily devotional for your marriage. Over these 66 days, we'll be sharing one scripture from each of the 66 books of the Bible and talking about how it applies to your life and marriage. Listen to all 66 episodes of these and you'll have a better understanding of God's Word and his perfect plan for your marriage. Let's dive in to today's scripture. Well, welcome back. We are on day 16 of our summer of Scripture on the Naked Marriage Podcast. We're so glad you guys have joined us. Today's verse is Nehemiah 1:11. It says this. Oh, Lord, please hear my prayer. Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me. In those days, I was the king's cupbearer. I love that because, I mean, I love how humid it is. It's like, God, please help this situation go well. Right? Can you give more background to what's going on here?

Yeah, it's a really, really great situation. So Nehemiah is a regular guy. He's the cup bearer to the king, which is essentially like a server, or even maybe more accurately, like a bartender, wine steward for the king. The guy that brought the king his drinks, essentially, and also made sure they weren't poisoned. He'd be the one tasting the stuff to make sure that somebody wasn't trying to poison the king. But he was just doing a regular job for a king in his foreign land. It was a time when Israel was largely in exile and Nehemiah was not in Israel. He was now living in exile with this king. But people were starting to go back to Jerusalem, and when they got back there, they realized all the city walls had been torn down. The city was in ruins. And a city without walls around it at that time was so vulnerable that it needed walls to thrive because of all the bandits and all of the. Just the different stuff that was happening. A city's wall was its security. So word got back to Nehemiah that those who were resettling in Jerusalem, that the city was in ruins and the wall was in ruins, and it just broke his heart because his beloved city, city of God's temple and God, you know, it was just. It was laying there in ruins. It was a slum. And this righteous desire started burning in him to go and rebuild it. But he knew that he couldn't do that on his own. He needed the favor of this king. And so he prayed, God, let the king show me favor and let me leave, have a leave of absence to go and rebuild this place and let him help us do it. And he did. The king actually was so moved by Nehemiah's passion and I think God moved the king's heart through Nehemiah's prayer that he said, not only can you go, but I'm going to provide you some supplies, I'm going to provide you some protection. Nehemiah went, he rallied the people. And it was a beautiful example of just people rising up to do a good task. They together, through opposition, they rebuilt the wall, they rebuilt the city. And it's just a testament to how God wants to do great things through regular people like all of us. But we've got to be willing to step into those moments. We got to pray prayers of boldness and say, God, give me favor with my boss, give me favor with this person or that one so that I can step into those moments of greater influence so I can do things that are gonna make a difference for the kingdom.

I love that story. And as you're telling it, sweetie, I think about how does that, you know, relate to our modern day kind of predicament, so to speak, and how we live in the day to day. And I would say, you know, in our life today we need to build up boundaries, like healthy boundaries. We've talked a lot about that in the different days of this, these scripture references. But I, you know, what comes to mind with this is having favor in building and establishing those boundaries because I think that you we referenced in Laws in an earlier episode this summer, but I think that that's one of the trickiest ones. You know, I think that here's Nehemiah serving this king and it's someone who has a lot of authority in their life, who they admire, who and can really, you know, he's going to have continued interaction with. And I think for most of us, you know, when it comes to maybe our parents or our in laws, these are people we admire that we want to have a good relationship with that we're going to have, you know, consistent interaction with. And I think that when it comes to establishing boundaries, if they've maybe overstepped or there's been something where it's not been healthy and we've recognized that as a couple, it can be scary to, to go and have those conversations. And I remember for us in particular, I won't Name names. But this was something early in our marriage where I knew that that needed to take place. We both knew that needed to take place. But having those conversations just in my nature, I'm a pleaser by nature. I don't like to stir it up. I don't like confrontation. Generally speaking, I've gotten better at it as I've gotten older just out of ne to be able to have these hard conversations. But back then, I remember I was probably only like 22 or something at the time. And I knew we had met with our counselor, we had talked through this, prayed through this, and it was like that conversation had to happen. And you know, I think of verses like this, I mean, I prayed a similar prayer to Nehemiah like, lord, let this land on the best ears possible. Give me favor with this person who's not really been very favorable of us in establishing these boundaries in the past when I've kind of half heartedly tried. But I remember, you know, I had to like muster up that strength and almost do it scared just asking God for favor. And I've had to have multiple conversations over the years and multiple we, we have had to have. But it's. I will say that God always comes through and it's not necessarily in the way that we think it will. And it may be ugly at first, especially if you're trying to establish boundaries with someone who doesn't want to take, you know, respect those boundaries. But I will tell you that when you know that God is with you just like he was with Nehemiah, he'll get you through it. Like he'll get you through it. And even though you're scared and you stick to what you know God has called you to, there is good that will come out of that. And we are living proof of that. And so for you, maybe it's not. Maybe you have a great relationship with your parents and in laws and they're respecting your autonomy as a couple. And so that's not where you necessarily need boundaries. But maybe you do at work. Maybe there's people that don't respect the boundaries. You, you are trying to put in place to protect your family time or to protect your relationship with your spous, you need to be able to really pray those prayers like Nehemiah and say, give me favor with my boss in saying that I need to cut down on my hours or I need to have flex time or I need to, whatever it is, I don't need to keep on going on this, have this travel because it's taking Away from my family. Or maybe it's a friend who has been kind of toxic for your marital relationship and you need to establish boundaries there because when they get together with you, they want a spouse bash. But you're like, that's not who I am and that's not good. And that's toxic. I don't wanna have that kind of relationship. And this friend maybe is a stronger personality and you're afraid to have that conversation. I would just pray that prayer like Nehemiah and say, lord, give me favor, give me the right timing, give me the right scenario where they can understand my heart and that I love them. But I need to put this boundary in place. I'm telling you, it goes a long way. Because as, as adult Christians and as adult married people, we have to sometimes, you know, we have to have these hard conversations and we have to, to be able to establish boundaries in order to protect. Just like Nehemiah was trying to build that wall to protect the Israelites.

It's so good, guys. So have those conversations. What are those places in your life that need boundaries? What are those places that are vulnerable and need protection, need a wall of protection built around them, just like the city of Jerusalem did. And then pray for favor. You know, pray for favor and believe that God is going to do it. But it's also going to require courage on your part, just like it did for Nehemiah and specifically with the parent in law situation, if that is an issue you're facing. We talk a lot more about that in the book that's now available for pre order. It's called Married into the Family. It's all about having those healthy relationships which can be complicated with parents and in laws and those marrying into your family. And I think it could be a game changer in your family and for your marriage. So check that out. Thanks so much for tuning in, guys. Join us tomorrow. Day 17 is we're going to look at one of the most courageous people in the Bible, Queen Esther. The book of Esther is such a heroic tale and just an incredible story. There's so much we can learn from this young woman of faith. So tune in tomorrow and we'll see you then.