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One meat company advertises that the meat comes from contented well-fed animals. Being contented with earthly goods is akin to godliness.  But being spiritually contented means complacency – a failure to exercise faith in God’s promises.  Faith in action requires us to choose God’s priorities and to abide in His wisdom and timing.

Making People’s well-being a priority over work
Nehemiah was born in Persia one century after Babylon under King Nebuchadnezzar ruthlessly crushed Jerusalem.  His was a life that demonstrated God’s priorities.  He lived in opulence and prosperity in the king’s court but he cared for God’s people.  Beyond just having a remote interest, he was concerned “about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile and also about Jerusalem”.  He was troubled about the physical condition of Jerusalem.  Broken walls meant insecurity, hardship and poverty for the Jewish remnant.  They told him that “those who survived the exile … are in great trouble and disgrace”.  Moreover, “the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire”.  Nehemiah was burdened about the urgency of reconstructing the wall so that some form of security and economic stability could be restored to the population there.

Making Prayer a priority over ability and experience
Nehemiah’s response to the news of the troubles faced by his people was simply – he “sat down and wept”.  Though separated by a desert and living in luxury and comfort, Nehemiah felt anguish for them for “some days”, praying “day and night before the God of heaven”.  As a wine-bearer and King’s confidant, he knew the protocol which forbids him to ask the King to recommence Jerusalem’s wall-building programme – work which the King had earlier forbidden.  The supreme greatness of the King was still tiny compared to the sovereignty of the Most High.  “Then I prayed to the God of heaven and I answered the king”.  His intention was so daring.  His priority was to trust God’s greatness and His promise for the people, never his ability or experience.

Choosing God’s priorities requires us to be responsive to the spiritual and physical condition of people, trusting in His Word as we move to do what He lays on our heart.  Remember: Being complacent about spiritual life means living with empty religious words.  Instead, like Apostle Paul, we declare our priority with passion:  “But this one thing I do … I press on toward the mark of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”