What To Do When Faced With A Difficult Situation?
by Dan Jones, M.D.
Nehemiah 1:10-11
“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."
I was cupbearer to the king.
Nehemiah was facing a difficult situation. The walls and gates of Jerusalem lay in ruins. He had decided repair was necessary and was committed to leading the effort. He was still in exile in Babylon without resources and without a plan. The poor Jewish remnant in Jerusalem had even less. While others were whining in despair, Nehemiah moved forward with an action plan.
His first step had been confession. Now he asks God to hear his prayer. Before taking further action on his very difficult situation, Nehemiah turned to God for help and direction.
It’s important for us not to miss that Nehemiah was a very resourceful person. He was a leader among the Jews in Babylon. He could have assumed what God wanted of him in repairing the wall of Jerusalem. But he did not simply presume what God desired with dependence on his own common sense. He paused and asked God to listen and help.
When faced with difficult situations in my own life, I sometimes fail to remember the need to call on God for his help. If I see the task that needs to be done, I often will presume what God wants of me and plunge ahead to attempt a solution. This can get me in trouble. In a period of my life when I had waited seven years for God to open the doors for me to work in a mission hospital he continued to close that door. Presuming what he wanted was for me to plant myself where I was working and living, I moved forward with purchasing land for a new clinic building. I was not certain of God’s direction in this and was relying on my “God given judgment”. If I had only slowed down long enough, God could have saved me some money. Weeks after buying the land, God revealed to me why he had been keeping the doors closed on working overseas. And he opened the doors.
Lord, remind me to pause and ask for your ear and your direction when facing difficult situations.
Dan Jones, M.D., MACP, FAHA, a board-certified Internist, a former medical missionary to Korea, professor of medicine at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Dean of the School of Medicine, and Chancellor of the University of Mississippi until 2015. Dr. Dan Jones is a member of CMDA.
Dr. Jones welcomes any comments or questions about what he has written and can be reached at - djones@umc.edu
Rounds with the Master, Spiritual Pearls from the Great Physician Devotionals are released every Monday and Thursday.
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