Now, what's the difference between fear and lack of faith? In all kinds of things in the Christian life we lack faith. In trials, for instance. We take them badly because momentarily we lack faith. It is the same thing. Are we as honest as Nehemiah? ‘Today I am lacking faith,’ we should say to ourselves, ‘and I need to reaffirm to the Lord that he is my Lord and I owe him everything. I absolutely trust him, and it is foolish of me to waver and to stagger under this small trial. My faith has been caught out at a low ebb, and I should face it.’ He could do this. He could say it. ‘I was made afraid’, so he dealt with it in the right way. I too should say, ‘My faith staggered and failed. There is a close connection between these things. So the more you read of Nehemiah, the more you learn from him. He is very frank about himself and his attitudes. At the end of verse 9: ‘Therefore, O God, strengthen my hands’, and he prays for resolution and strength and faith.