We’ve been looking over the last couple of weeks at Nehemiah – how he returned to Judah and oversaw the building of Jerusalem’s walls. We’ve been told that years before, Jerusalem had been destroyed, and thousands of people were taken captive from Judah to Babylon. So, what led to them being able to return?There are two answers to that question. The first we find in historical documents and artefacts, and centres around Cyrus the Great, ruler of Persia. When he conquered Babylon he put in place a policy which allowed captives (including the Jews) to return to their homeland and worship their gods.The second we find in another historical document – the Bible – where God gives us his viewpoint of the same event. And it shows that behind the wars and politics, God was at work.When we look at national and global politics and wars we need to remember that there are two perspectives. Political leaders and rulers are making decisions which they think are in their favour but we mustn’t forget that God is there too. He can, and does, work through all sorts of situations on a national and global scale sometimes without people even realising. If I can trust God to work in big global political decisions, how much more should I be able to trust him in the places I find myself, and in the decisions that affect my life.