I had not told anyone about the plans God had put in my heart for Jerusalem.
(Nehemiah 2:12)
Nehemiah got to town and one might imagine him jumping in and getting to work. But that’s not what happened. Nehemiah takes his time. He walks around the rubble. And he tells no one about the plan God laid on his heart.
He spent time with the people. He probably heard their discouraging stories. He saw the overwhelming nature of the task.
God needed Nehemiah to take all of that in. It’s one thing to draw up a plan from a distance, but quite another to see what needs to be done close up and personally.
There were times in Jesus’ ministry when even though he knew the heart of God and what needed to be done, he pulled away from the crowd to be alone with his Father.
The more time I spend with Nehemiah, the more I see a man who leaned hard on God.
How’s your “leaning” going?
Pot of Manna 