昨天我们结束时说在基督徒的生命中，等候神的计划实现是常规而非例外。这是否表示，在我们大部分基督徒的生命中，我们甚么都不用做，只等候神的行动？不是！基督徒生命明显有某些方面是须要我们立即注意和每天注意的，因为我们已经有了所需要的指引。例如，我们无须等候神也知道我们应该饶恕那些伤害我们的人，或者与未信的人分享我们的信仰。神的这些旨意是标准的行为准则，清楚写明在祂的话语中。

我在这里指的不是神的一般旨意，而是祂的个别计划──祂想透过我们个人来实现的特别计划。每个基督徒都有责任来到神面前，找出神要透过自己的生命来实现甚么。我们忠心地阅读神的话、服从神的命令、在祷告中与神交通，便可以期望神显明祂对我们生命的计划。

以我们今天的经文为例，尼希米忠心地服侍王，但当他听到神的圣城耶路撒冷那可悲的境况时，他看到了重建城墙的异象。接着神在王的心里动工，让他渴望帮助尼希米实现这个异象。你有没有看到类似的异象，从而明白神想透过你在世的生命和见证以实现甚么？如果你没有看到异象，为甚么会没有呢？

「神的话语列出了标准的行为准则」

进深研究
创十五1-21，二十一1-5；来二3；箴二十九18

1. 神给亚伯拉罕甚么异象？
2. 那异象要多久才实现？

祈祷
慈爱的天父，求您让我清楚地看见，您想透过我个人的生命和见证为您实现甚么。我在黑暗中耽延太久了，现在我想步入您的光明里面。阿们。

The Corn of Wheat Afraid to Die

Day 259

Catching a vision

"If it pleases the king...let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it." (v.5)

Bible reading:
Nehemiah 2:1-10

1 In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before,

2 so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." I was very much afraid,

3 but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my ancestors are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

4 The king said to me, "What is it you want?" Then I prayed to the God of heaven,

5 and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it."

6 Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.

7 I also said to him, "If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah?

8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?" And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests.

9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king's letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.

Message

We ended yesterday with the thought that waiting for God's purposes to come to pass is more the rule than the exception in the Christian life. Does this mean that for most of our Christian life we should do nothing but wait for God to move? No. Clearly there are certain aspects of the Christian life which require immediate and daily attention, and for which we have all the guidance we need. We don't need to wait on God, for example, to know what we should do about forgiving those who have hurt us, or sharing our faith with the unconverted. Those purposes of God are to be seen as standard operating procedure and are clearly set out in His Word.

I am referring here, not so much to His general purposes, but to His individual purposes - those special plans which He wants to achieve through us personally. Every Christian has the responsibility of coming before God to seek to discover just what it is that the Lord wants to achieve through his or her life. And as we are faithful in reading His Word, obeying His commands, and communing with Him in prayer, we can expect Him to reveal those special plans for our lives.

Take our reading today: Nehemiah served the king faithfully, but when he heard about the disgraceful condition of God's city, Jerusalem, he caught a vision of rebuilding the walls. God then worked in the king's heart to give him a desire to assist Nehemiah in achieving that vision. Have you caught the vision of what God wants to achieve through your own individual life and witness on this earth? If not, why not?

"Standard operating procedure is set out in God's Word"

Prayer
Gracious Father, give me, I pray, a clear picture of what You want to achieve through my own personal life and witness for You. I have kept myself in the dark too long; now I want to step out into the light - Your light. Amen.

Further study
Genesis 15:1-21; 21:1-5
Hebrews 2:3
Proverbs 29:18

1. What vision did God give Abraham?
2. How long did it take to be fulfilled?

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