For such a time as

NOW
I was cupbearer to the king (Nehemiah 1:11).

As Nehemiah wept and mourned over what God had put on his heart, his fasting and prayer continued in view of God's mercy for five months of days and nights past the initial shock and grief. And then he surveyed his post as cupbearer to the king... The text could instead read "Now I was wallbuilder and king" but God places his own in opportune-but-dependent positions that often only make sense in his story.

When I present my requests before the king, do I consider my circumstance a sovereign blessing? How might I be an agent for the change I say I want, in light of my current assignment?

Steve challenged us in small group tonight with a question: Was Nehemiah's action merely 'subsequent to' or was it the 'completion of' his repentance/prayer?

Now I was ______.
Now I was a college student
Now I was living in NYC.
Now I was with x means and y abilities.
Now I was a daughter, a sister, a roommate, a friend to z.
Now I was created, redeemed...
Now I was given Truth and Spirit...

Now where I am may make no sense in any story I could write and it may seem to bear no obvious pertinence to the requests I present or to the burdens I bear.


But in a grander narrative I am not the Author, I am at His mercy. I am His redeemed. And I am in exactly the right place at the right now.