By When troubles come we tend to drift off the road of faithfulness into either the side of passive despair, crying out to God for help, or active pragmatism of getting busy to fix the troubles without as much as a thought of trust in God.
Nehemiah faced much trouble in his work. There were practical hurdles to overcome, internal conflict and apathy to confront, and external opposition to respond to. It was during one of the external opposition times that Nehemiah clues us in to what his habit in times of trouble was.
And we prayed to our God and set a guard
Nehemiah 4:9
We prayed, and then we made a plan and got going on it! This is the same as we see a few years earlier in his life when the king asked him a question.
So I prayed to the God of Heaven, and I said to the king…
Nehemiah 2:4-5
When faced with trouble, be it something that suddenly happened or something that has been coming for a long time already, do not throw your hands up in passive prayer, but also, do not forge ahead without any thought of God.
Pray, and then get going. Pour out your heart to the Lord, then get up, see what needs to be done, and do it!
Pray, and then get going!