And??

“And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.” Nehemiah 2:9

Some people never seem satisfied.  Take the guy in the current Coke Zero commercial.  Each time he receives something, he wants more—and gets it by abundant use of the word “And??”  The plain ice cream of his childhood is quickly coated in sprinkles and crowned with a cherry. The straight skateboarding dog of his adolescence suddenly flips, twists, turns, and wins a national title.  As an adult, his new employer supplements a basic job opportunity with stock options, a cash bonus, a corner office, new car, boat, and mansion, and an attractive sales clerk adds a hot date to her compliment of his clothing.  Only the combination of great taste AND zero calories discovered in a can of a Coke Zero finally brings him satisfaction without his asking.

The clever ad is not reality.  Our mothers would have taken the cool cone and given us something warm had we smarted off like that in Baskin Robbins!  The boss would fire a guy on the spot for such selfish demands, and gorgeous women don’t throw themselves at average Joe’s wearing baggy jeans.  But there was a day, one day in the throne room of a Persian palace, when a real guy kept saying, “And??” and kept getting really good things.

“What do you want?” the king queried when Nehemiah told him of the trouble in Jerusalem.  “A leave of absence,” he replied. “If it pleases the king…let him sent me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it”(Neh. 2:5).  When Artaxerxes agreed, Nehemiah followed his answer with an “And?”  “May I have letters to the governors so that they will provide me safe conduct?”(Neh. 2:7).  But permission and protection weren’t enough.  Nehemiah also wanted provisions.  “And…timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple”(Neh. 2:8).  But he wasn’t done.  “And wood for the city wall?”  “And how about materials to build my house?”(Neh. 2:8a)   

“And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests”(Neh. 2:8b). And threw in even more. “The king also sent army officers and cavalry with me”(Neh. 2:9).

Nehemiah wasn’t greedy; he was doing God’s work, and “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s provision”(HudsonTaylor).

Even if you get it by asking “And??”