DCLM Daily Manna 11 January 2023 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Justified Response To Bad News
TOPIC: Justified Response To Bad News (DCLM Daily Manna 11 January 2023)
KEY VERSE: “Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid” (Nehemiah 2:2).
TEXT: Nehemiah 2:1-3 (KJV)
1 And it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.
2 Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid,
3 And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?
MESSAGE:
A greater percentage of the news we hear via our media houses and social media are pieces of bad news. As a matter of fact, bad news sells and makes more headlines than good news. What we hear has a great effect on how we feel and disturbs our minds and alters our mood.
From the passage, Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer was sad because of the news about Israel’s reproach. Israel had been plundered and ravaged, and the precious vessels of the temple at Jerusalem looted and taken to Babylon. The walls of Jerusalem were also destroyed. Though Nehemiah was relatively comfortable as the king’s cupbearer, he was overwhelmed by sadness when he received update about the current state of things in Jerusalem, his home city. The burden for God’s glory and His people saddened him so intensely that it showed on his countenance. When the king noticed his sadness, Nehemiah was afraid because no one was expected to be sad in the king’s presence. But divine providence guided him into becoming the reformer and repairer of the breaches in Jerusalem eventually.
Godly sorrow is said, in the Scriptures, to produce the peaceable fruit of repentance unto life (2 Corinthians 7:10). In a moment, Nehemiah was overwhelmed by the consequences of Israel’s sin and the calamitous effects that followed. Israel was no longer a free nation. And no amount of honour and privileges in the king’s court was enough to erase this fact out of Nehemiah’s mind.
Nehemiah demonstrated the typical mindset of champions. They convert their deep sadness into positive action. They do not allow their sorrow to drown them in the ocean of self-pity. We must not look away from the sad conditions of sinners and backsliders around us. We must not feast and drink while people around us are suffering. Somebody says, “The person God uses has a burden for His people, a vision for His purpose, and a commitment to His projects”. Let the boldness we have by the Spirit of God guide us through our darkest hour.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
You’d be better of if you convert negative feelings to positive actions.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Genesis 32–34
Deeper Life Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
