Seize the Moment – Day 1004
May God Take Note of My Hardships!
Do you feel seen in your suffering?
After a long review of Israel’s history of broken promises and rebellion against God, Nehemiah 9:32-33 signifies a change of emphasis in this thirty-three-verse psalm, as it transitions from a confession to a petition:
Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness, do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria to this day. However, You are just in all that has come upon us; for You have dealt faithfully, but we have acted wickedly.
The petition was for God to “not let all the hardship seem insignificant” before Him. They were asking God to see them in their suffering. “The term hardships (Hb tela’ah) occurs only rarely in the OT, but it is used to refer to times of great distress or trials, such as the exodus (Ex 18:8) or Jerusalem after its destruction at the hands of the Babylonians (Lm 3:5).”[1]
There are two practices found in this petition that we can apply to our own lives. First, we all want to have our own suffering taken seriously. People need to feel validated, especially in times of hardship and distress, which is why Hagar called God, “You are a God who sees” when He visited her as she fled from Sarai’s abuse (Genesis 16:13).
Second, the leaders and Levites took responsibility for their situation. They didn’t blame others; rather, they put themselves at the mercy of their God – “a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness” (Nehemiah 9:17).
Seize the moment and ask the “God who sees” to take note of your hardships and to forgive you of your sins (1 John 1:9).
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Carl R. Anderson, “Nehemiah,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 735.