WEBVTT 00:00:00.770 --> 00:00:02.410 Look at verse number one with me. 00:00:02.410 --> 00:00:05.830 It says, "And it came to pass in the month Nisan 00:00:05.830 --> 00:00:08.230 in the 20th year of Artaxerxes the king 00:00:08.230 --> 00:00:10.640 that wine was before him and I took up the wine 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:12.410 and gave it unto the king. 00:00:12.410 --> 00:00:16.550 Now I had not been before time sad in his presence." 00:00:16.550 --> 00:00:19.490 And the first thing that I want to point out about Nehemiah 00:00:19.490 --> 00:00:22.440 is that Nehemiah had a positive attitude. 00:00:22.440 --> 00:00:25.680 This is not a guy who's just always in a bad mood. 00:00:25.680 --> 00:00:28.800 And let's face it, nobody likes a sour puss. 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:31.950 Nobody likes somebody who's grouchy and grumpy all the time. 00:00:31.950 --> 00:00:34.760 It's annoying to the people around you. 00:00:34.760 --> 00:00:38.150 And also the Bible commands us to rejoice ever more. 00:00:38.150 --> 00:00:40.890 He said, this is the day which the Lord had made. 00:00:40.890 --> 00:00:43.740 We will rejoice and be glad in it. 00:00:43.740 --> 00:00:45.600 And if we're being thankful 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:48.390 and if we have the fruit of the spirit, which is joy, 00:00:48.390 --> 00:00:52.520 we're not just gonna go through life all down and gloomy 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:55.770 and just dragging everybody around us down all the time. 00:00:55.770 --> 00:00:59.820 And part of why Nehemiah was a great follower, 00:00:59.820 --> 00:01:03.670 a great employee, a man that the king looked at 00:01:03.670 --> 00:01:06.520 with respect and allowed him to have this important position 00:01:06.520 --> 00:01:09.950 of being the cup bearer is that he was a positive guy. 00:01:09.950 --> 00:01:11.180 Because look, he said, 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:14.110 I had not been before time sad in his presence. 00:01:14.110 --> 00:01:16.950 So he's been doing this job for years and years and years, 00:01:16.950 --> 00:01:19.390 and he's never been sad in front of the king. 00:01:19.390 --> 00:01:20.230 Because here's the thing, 00:01:20.230 --> 00:01:22.370 even if you're going through hard times, 00:01:22.370 --> 00:01:24.890 sometimes you have to just suffer in silence. 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:26.690 And when you show up at work, 00:01:26.690 --> 00:01:28.820 you don't have to just let everybody know 00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:31.500 what a bad time you're having and how upset you are. 00:01:31.500 --> 00:01:33.480 Sometimes you have to just put those things aside 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:35.060 and get the job done. 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:37.730 Now, I'm very aware of this as a pastor, 00:01:37.730 --> 00:01:39.610 because here's the thing, as a pastor, 00:01:39.610 --> 00:01:43.030 obviously I go through things in my personal life. 00:01:43.030 --> 00:01:46.200 I might go through issues that nobody knows about, 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.030 or maybe it's health issues or family issues, 00:01:49.030 --> 00:01:50.550 financial issues, whatever. 00:01:50.550 --> 00:01:53.100 But here's the thing, when I show up to church, 00:01:53.100 --> 00:01:55.370 I'm always smiling, greeting everybody. 00:01:55.370 --> 00:01:56.600 I get up, I preach. 00:01:56.600 --> 00:01:59.070 I don't get up and be like, all right, guys, 00:01:59.070 --> 00:02:03.300 here we go again with the announcements, 00:02:03.300 --> 00:02:07.360 and just all down and just in a bad mood and upset, right? 00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:10.320 I kinda have to just be in a good mood, 00:02:10.320 --> 00:02:11.580 even if I'm not in a good mood. 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:13.510 I gotta get in a good mood pretty quick. 00:02:13.510 --> 00:02:15.150 Now, the good thing is that coming to church 00:02:15.150 --> 00:02:16.900 puts me in a good mood anyway, 00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:18.350 because I can't even count how many times 00:02:18.350 --> 00:02:20.040 I've been in a bad mood, then I went to church, 00:02:20.040 --> 00:02:23.020 and then I just was a lot happier. 00:02:23.020 --> 00:02:24.960 But it doesn't always work that way. 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:26.780 But you know what, at the same time, 00:02:26.780 --> 00:02:29.780 we have to sometimes just be what we need to be 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:33.370 and do what we need to do in spite of how we're feeling. 00:02:33.370 --> 00:02:34.180 Okay? 00:02:34.180 --> 00:02:36.780 And here's the thing, you wives out there, 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:39.680 I know that being a housewife is a difficult job. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:41.810 Being a young mother is a difficult job, 00:02:41.810 --> 00:02:43.350 especially when you're at that stage 00:02:43.350 --> 00:02:47.020 when you have all little kids and no big helpers. 00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:49.530 You know, one of the most difficult times to be a mother 00:02:49.530 --> 00:02:51.360 is when you got like four kids 00:02:51.360 --> 00:02:53.230 and they're all like six and under 00:02:53.230 --> 00:02:54.740 or seven and under or something, 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:57.200 and you don't have the big helpers, okay? 00:02:57.200 --> 00:03:00.310 And here's the thing, yeah, it's difficult, it's hard. 00:03:00.310 --> 00:03:01.940 You're gonna be pushed to your limit. 00:03:01.940 --> 00:03:05.440 You're gonna be overdone at times, but here's the thing. 00:03:05.440 --> 00:03:09.040 You wanna still be pleasant for your husband, right? 00:03:09.040 --> 00:03:10.580 Your husband, he's going to work too. 00:03:10.580 --> 00:03:13.340 He doesn't wanna come home to a grouchy, grumpy wife 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:15.390 that's just complaining every day. 00:03:15.390 --> 00:03:18.600 Look, it's hard, but don't complain every day. 00:03:18.600 --> 00:03:20.230 You don't want your husband to come home from work 00:03:20.230 --> 00:03:21.900 complaining every single day, right? 00:03:21.900 --> 00:03:24.010 I mean, you're dealing with all your problems at home. 00:03:24.010 --> 00:03:25.910 You want your husband to come home and just complain, 00:03:25.910 --> 00:03:27.720 "Oh, I hate my job. 00:03:27.720 --> 00:03:29.050 "Oh, it's so hard. 00:03:29.050 --> 00:03:30.920 "Oh, the boss is such a jerk." 00:03:30.920 --> 00:03:33.550 I mean, this is gonna be a bad relationship. 00:03:33.550 --> 00:03:35.550 If you're complaining to him 00:03:35.550 --> 00:03:37.540 and he's complaining to you, right? 00:03:37.540 --> 00:03:40.210 Sometimes you have to just get over it 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:41.920 and just try to get in a good mood, 00:03:41.920 --> 00:03:43.510 find something to be positive about, 00:03:43.510 --> 00:03:46.470 rejoice in the Lord, put on the new man, 00:03:46.470 --> 00:03:49.110 walk in the Spirit and get the joy of the Lord in your heart 00:03:49.110 --> 00:03:55.320 so that you can be a pleasant person to be around. 00:03:55.320 --> 00:03:58.120 People will enjoy your company more 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:02.310 if you're positive and optimistic and pleasant and happy. 00:04:02.310 --> 00:04:04.710 And that's one of the things that Nehemiah had going for him. 00:04:04.710 --> 00:04:06.280 He's a positive guy. 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:08.780 He's sad when there's a time to be sad. 00:04:08.780 --> 00:04:10.230 Sometimes it's appropriate. 00:04:10.230 --> 00:04:11.770 Sometimes something major happens. 00:04:11.770 --> 00:04:14.320 Yeah, okay, then it's okay to let people know 00:04:14.320 --> 00:04:17.330 what you're going through, but he reserved that 00:04:17.330 --> 00:04:18.570 for when it was actually something big. 00:04:18.570 --> 00:04:20.230 Because here's the thing, if you're just always 00:04:20.230 --> 00:04:22.360 in a bad mood, I'm not gonna take you seriously 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:25.760 when something really bad happens to you. 00:04:25.760 --> 00:04:26.600 You know what I mean? 00:04:26.600 --> 00:04:28.990 Let's just say that my wife was just always in a bad mood. 00:04:28.990 --> 00:04:30.700 Well, then it's like, then being in a bad mood 00:04:30.700 --> 00:04:31.750 is not gonna mean anything. 00:04:31.750 --> 00:04:34.930 Whereas if she's typically happy, typically smiling, 00:04:34.930 --> 00:04:37.320 typically in a good mood, and then all of a sudden 00:04:37.320 --> 00:04:39.610 she's upset and in a bad mood, then I'm gonna think like, 00:04:39.610 --> 00:04:41.440 oh wow, let me see what I can do to help. 00:04:41.440 --> 00:04:44.290 Or let me, you know, this is serious. 00:04:44.290 --> 00:04:47.050 But if you're just crying wolf all the time, 00:04:47.050 --> 00:04:49.120 by just always being in a bad mood, 00:04:49.120 --> 00:04:50.850 well then nobody's gonna take you seriously. 00:04:50.850 --> 00:04:53.970 Because he was so positive, and because he had never 00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:56.040 been sad before time in his presence, 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:59.060 now when Nehemiah's sad, the king takes it really seriously 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:01.630 and thinks like, wow, this must be really important. 00:05:01.630 --> 00:05:04.090 Let me see what I can do to help this guy out. 00:05:04.090 --> 00:05:07.430 Because he didn't just waste that good grace 00:05:07.430 --> 00:05:09.850 by just being in a bad mood over nothing all the time.