Coasting, Coping, or Caring

03. Nov, 2010 1 Comment

Nehemiah 2:1

Have you ever found yourself showing up for work but your heart wasn’t in it like it used to be? What you used to enjoy doing seems to have lost its appeal? You show up but your heart is someplace else. I’ve been there. I could feel something changing inside me. Discontent growing. My cruise control was set to coast. We all go through those times when we are coasting, or worse, just trying to cope.

Nehemiah also found himself in this position. He faithfully showed up to fulfill his responsibilities but something had changed. He did what was expected but the satisfaction wasn’t there anymore. A discontent grew within him. A shift had taken place and a longing to do something else captured every waking moment. He refused to coast in comfort and it was all he could do to cope when his heart was someplace else. It was time to make a change.

For Nehemiah, the future wasn’t about him but about others. The desperate situation of people in need had gripped his heart. The discontent wasn’t about wanting a new career or a bigger paycheck. The restlessness came from a deep care for others and a sense of urgency to help people in need.

The walls of Jerusalem were crumbling and the situation was hopeless for those living among the debris. Those who remained in Jerusalem had escaped being captured but were suffering from further attacks and needed help. Nehemiah was no longer content living the life of a Cup-bearer. Serving in the comfortable familiar surroundings of the king’s palace would never change the desperate situation in Jerusalem. Nehemiah would have to let go of the familiar to find greater fulfillment.

There was a time when serving the king was the right place for Nehemiah. He held a position of great trust. Few people had such access to the king. No one put their life on the line like Nehemiah who ensured the king’s food and drink were safe by tasting it before the King ate it. God used that position of trust to prepare Nehemiah for something He had already planned for him.

God does the same in your life and mine. The positions we fulfill now are preparing us for another place of service that God has already prepared. Inevitably, a restlessness will begin growing in our hearts. The love we had for what we are doing will diminish when we become content with coasting or we find we are trying to cope.

When boredom begins to grip your mind and you realize you’re just going through the motions, the next step is to search out what God is stirring in your heart. What stirs you to the point of tears? Nehemiah was moved to tears and those tears exposed a deep discontent. What need is God exposing that stirs your heart? Holding on to the familiar is a road that leads to regrets. God stirred Nehemiah’s heart and He will do the same in my heart and yours. When He does, He will prepare the way for you and me to accomplish what He has been preparing us to do.

I am wrestling with this question: What is God stirring in my heart?