Nehemiah 1:5-6

“O Lord, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer!”

These words give us a wonderful insight into Nehemiah’s understanding of God. Everything that follows in this book flows out of these few words. Nehemiah’s courageous actions were the result of the way he understood God, and it’s the same for us. Our understanding of God (or to use the technical term - theology) will shape the way in which we speak and act.

Nehemiah knew the awesome greatness of God but, at the same time, he recognised that the God of love wanted to live in covenant relationship with him. Nehemiah lived far away from Jerusalem, where the problems facing the Israelites were colossal. Added to that, he held an important and trusted position in the court of the Persian King Artaxerxes. As the royal wine taster, it was almost unthinkable that he would be released him from his sensitive role.

Anyone looking out for their own safety would have kept quiet about the problems in Jerusalem. The last thing they would do would be to ask the king for some leave so that they could go and fix the problem. The fact that Nehemiah did so shows how completely he trusted God.

The same principle applies today. Our lives are shaped by our understanding of God. Nehemiah begins his prayer with 30 words to describe God. I wonder what your 30 words would be. I encourage you to set aside some time today to write them down. Your words won’t be exactly the same as Nehemiah’s or indeed anyone else you know. Amazingly, God enters into a unique relationship with each one of us and our understanding of him will be shaped by our own personal journey of faith. I find this incredibly exciting and, as our relationship with God grows and matures, I hope that the 30 words we choose will keep changing.

Question

Using 30 words, how would you describe God today?

Prayer

Lord God, I worship you because you are such an awesome God and yet still love me as an individual. Amen