Rebuild Your Life - Stand Your Ground
- Paul Downie
- Jun 22
- 24 min read
Nehemiah 6:9 NIV
[9] They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now strengthen my hands.”
‘I don’t see you as a missionary, Paul. And as a preacher? Don’t make me laugh!’
Words to that effect were spoken to me in 1997, as I was preparing to go to Romania as a missionary whose primary responsibility was to preach. They were spoken by someone who was in a decision-making capacity for whether or not my church would approve my departure and support me.
I can’t say they didn’t hurt. They really did.
It took a long time, but I forgave the brother concerned.
But the best answer possible was the three years I spent in Romania, preaching from pulpits sometimes as often as four times a week.
It hurts when people just don’t get it, don’t appreciate what we’re trying to do and turn on us. It hurts even more when people we think should be on our side are just not.
However, it really is not a unique experience. We are far from alone and in the best of company:
Luke 4:23-24 NIV
[23] Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ” [24] “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown.
What Jesus said during this absolutely explosive sermon is still just as true today. I have no doubt about that.
Nehemiah faces tough and uncompromising opposition, not just from outside Jerusalem, but, due to the influence his enemies had built up over the years, often from among his own people. He was facing an enormous and overwhelming task for which he, as a cupbearer, was enormously under-qualified to complete.
What follows is almost textbook in its resilience, inner strength and faith. Nehemiah stares down his enormous task and his unrelenting enemies in a way that sets the standard for us.
There are five lines of attack that his enemies utilised to break him. Every single one of them failed.
We might face any one of these – or even all of them – in our desire to rebuild our life in God’s image. For that reason we will look at them all.
I’m going to be honest with you: this will not be a short post. However, I pray that it is significantly encouraging one for you, as you face enormous challenges in your life.
The first of these lines of attack, as we saw in my previous post, was Derision.
Derision
Nehemiah 4:1-3 NIV
[1] When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, [2] and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” [3] Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”
Humour is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to communicating a message. The old adage from ‘Mary Poppins’ that ‘A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Medicine Go Down’ is absolutely true. Serious, heavy messages can be communicated without question by using humour to disarm objections and to break down defences. It is a very useful tool. I have no doubt about that.
But it can be sorely abused.
And that is what was happening here.
This is not humour being used to educate or inform or even to process and explain an event or situation.
This is humour being used to undermine.
This is humour being used to belittle.
This is humour being used to manipulate, to force other people to conform, to destroy their will.
This is bullying, plain and simple.
This is wrong.
This is not harmless teasing. This is not banter. This is not jolly japes.
This is laughing at people who are down while they struggle to get back up.
This is wrong.
It’s nothing new. It was not new then. It is definitely not new now. It’s a display of the worst in human nature.
Psalms 22:7-8 NIV
[7] All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. [8] “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”
Psalms 69:8-12 NIV
[8] I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother’s children; [9] for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me. [10] When I weep and fast, I must endure scorn; [11] when I put on sackcloth, people make sport of me. [12] Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
Psalms 89:50-51 NIV
[50] Remember, Lord, how your servant has been mocked, how I bear in my heart the taunts of all the nations, [51] the taunts with which your enemies, Lord, have mocked, with which they have mocked every step of your anointed one.
As we saw in an earlier post, it also happened to Jesus, when he was in the worst possible situation:
Matthew 27:39-42 NIV
[39] Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads [40] and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” [41] In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. [42] “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.
However, this is not wise behaviour at all:
Proverbs 24:17-18 NIV
[17] Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, [18] or the Lord will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them.
In fact, it’s the behaviour of people who lack scruples, sensitivity and intelligence. They have no real power or they wouldn’t be mocking. Instead, they would be using their power to actually achieve something.
Satire can have its place in a modern democratic society. It can help expose and right wrongs. But often it just becomes an expression of unrighteous fury and anger – a negative form of therapy – rather than something constructive.
So what can we do when we are the subject of mocking? What should we do, as Christians?
Fortunately for you, I have a lot of experience in dealing with mocking.
I know what doesn’t work. My family, in particular the male side, is well known for being bright and having a sharp, witty sense of humour. It’s got us out of a few messy situations in the past.
But it’s got us into just as many.
You see, people who mock, particularly those who mock using aspects that aren’t true about someone or something, and who tease and insult from a position of ignorance, do so to appear superior because they actually feel, and are inferior. They mock because they are relatively stupid, but they want people to think they are clever.
So if you insult them or mock them back, you bruise their fragile ego. People in that position don’t like to look stupid, because you’ve just exposed them for who they really are, and so these stupid people do what stupid people do to win an argument: they resort to mindless violence.
So your quick-wittedness will make the situation worse.
What does Nehemiah do, then?
Well, it isn’t exactly turning the other cheek.
Instead, he resorts to something the Psalmists often do: he prays what technically is called an imprecatory prayer;
Nehemiah 4:4-5 NIV
[4] Hear us, our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. [5] Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders.
That is, in essence, a curse.
Jesus does not tell us to cope with insults in this way:
Matthew 5:11-12 NIV
[11] “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. [12] Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Romans 12:14 NIV
[14] Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
1 Peter 3:9 NIV
[9] Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
Romans 12:17-21 NIV
[17] Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. [18] If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. [19] Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. [20] On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” [21] Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
In other words, the New Testament way of dealing with these issues is to, yes, bring your frustration, anger and pain at being insulted to the Lord, but leave them there (Matthew 11:28-30). Leave vengeance to God, and keep doing what He has called you to do.
Hebrews 10:30-31 NIV
[30] For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” [31] It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
It’s worth remembering that anyone mocking you isn’t just making fun, they are trying get you to change: to look like them, to think like them, to act like them, to conform to their likeness. The best answer you can give them is to silently refuse and continue to seek to confirm to Christ’s likeness: to keep rebuilding your life in obedience to Him.
Give them what they don't want; give Jesus what He wants.
Of course, it will infuriate your opponents. You aren’t doing what they want.
But you are doing the right thing.
Look at the result Nehemiah and the Jews obtained:
Nehemiah 4:6 NIV
[6] So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.
They made progress. Huge, enormous progress. That’s six metres high – four times the height of an average human being. For a wall that was 4km long and 2.5 metres thick, that is seriously impressive.
Because they let the insults fall on deaf ears and gave themselves to the work.
That is the best possible response.
But there was no way their enemies would stay silent. As is often the case when derision fails to get us to change, their enemies resorted to Intimidation.
Intimidation
Nehemiah 4:7-9 NIV
[7] But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. [8] They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. [9] But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
If stupid people resort to derision, even more stupid people resort to threats and intimidation. They use their fists because their fists are bigger than their brains.
Brute force never won an argument.
This is a very dangerous ploy.
Allow me to illustrate it.
There was a kid who kept calling me names and picking on me when I left the gates of my Primary school. He was bigger than me. Like all bullies, he was not very clever or confident, so he tried to assert his superiority using what he did have: muscles. As I was small and slight, he thought I was easy pickings.
One day he was doing his usual name-calling and shoving me around when someone grabbed him by the collar, lifted him right off the ground and snarled, ‘I think you owe my son an apology.’
Unbeknown to me, my Dad had been following me from out of sight, seen what the boy was doing, and reasoned with him in the only language he knew.
That boy didn’t bother me again.
Nehemiah’s enemies were resorting to threats of physical violence against the builders.
Why?
Because derision had failed.
But this was a dangerous thing to do. Nehemiah had a mandate from the king. Behind Nehemiah stood the king.
They may have been furious, but if Nehemiah’s enemies acted against him, they could find the wrath of Persia coming down on their head.
Which is likely why they opted for a sneak attack: to attack the workers where they were most vulnerable. They clearly wanted the element of surprise, to make their attack, scare off the workers and then retreat.
Why am I saying this?
Because what happens next shows that, like all bullies, these men were cowards. They used the threat of violence against these Jews thinking that they could get away with it. But when the Jews stood up to them, this happened:
Nehemiah 4:15 NIV
[15] When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to our own work.
Nehemiah organised and armed the builders. The conspicuous presence of guards and watches and weapons was enough to scare off their cowardly enemies.
Why? Because they were outnumbered and outgunned?
I’m not so sure.
I think maybe that mandate is the key. Nehemiah’s enemies could not risk a full frontal assault on the Jews because there would be seen as attacking someone under the king’s protection. So they tried to be sneaky. When Nehemiah found them out, and showed that he had found them out, they decided not to attack.
Intimidation only works if you are afraid of it.
Now, I am not advocating violence. Nor am I advocating the carrying of weapons.
Far from it.
But what I am saying is that when people are looking to intimidate us, we don’t need to be afraid, but we do need to be wary. We need to be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).
We should not deal with intimidation with intimidation. That will just escalate the situation.
But there are ways of dealing with it that will enable us to continue the work unabated, and that’s what counts.
Nehemiah’s enemies were not done. When derision and intimidation failed, they resorted to Distraction.
Distraction
Nehemiah 6:1-4 NIV
[1] When word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it—though up to that time I had not set the doors in the gates [2] Sanballat and Geshem sent me this message: “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.” But they were scheming to harm me; [3] so I sent messengers to them with this reply: “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?” [4] Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.
There are times when ‘clear the air’ meetings and peace negotiations are necessary. The world is being riven with wars and rumours of wars as I write these lines. It makes you wish that the warring powers would give up on ‘war-war’ and replace it with ‘jaw-jaw’, as Sir Winston Churchill once put it.
But in Nehemiah’s case, there was no place for talking. He had a mission to fulfil. Any talks with his enemies were nothing more than a distraction.
What’s more, they were a dangerous distraction.
The Plains of Ono have been identified as being around thirty miles north-west of Jerusalem, close to the Samaritan border: neutral territory. Sanballat and Tobiah wanted Nehemiah to put down his tools, walk a couple of days from Jerusalem, and then meet them there. If Nehemiah had gone alone, he would have been exposed to severe danger as they could kill him without anyone knowing. If he had taken some men with him, he would have depleted the workforce and also exposed those men to danger.
This was a very sly proposal.
On the surface, it seems peaceable and conciliatory.
In reality, it was anything but.
It was a fatal distraction.
And Nehemiah knew it.
He also knew the dangers of responding aggressively towards this proposal. That would make it look like he was the war monger; as if he was the one spoiling for a fight.
It was a delicate situation.
Which is why his reply is wise, sensitive and quite brilliant:
Nehemiah 6:3 NIV
[3] “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”
Rather beautifully, he tells them that he is carrying on a great project – for which he received the King’s commission – and therefore cannot sacrifice it to meet with them. He firmly informs them of his priorities and refuses to comprise, no matter how much they bother him.
As people recovering from a wrecked life, we need to re-establish our priorities, as the writer to the Hebrews points out in a verse I often quote:
Hebrews 12:1-3 NIV
[1] Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, [2] fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. [3] Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
There are things which are sinful. These must go. They must have no place in our lives.
But there are also things in our life which may not necessarily be sinful per se, but they distract us from our purpose and our goal.
Nehemiah recognised the power of this distraction: what it would mean to the goal of rebuilding the wall and to him personally, so he emphatically shut it down.
Do we have the courage to eliminate distractions in the same way?
Philippians 3:7-9 NIV
[7] But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
Apart from derision, intimidation and distraction, we see a fourth tactic of the enemy, and one that is used so effortlessly, to our deep shame, in Christian communities across the globe: that of Misinformation.
Misinformation
Nehemiah 6:5-7 NIV
[5] Then, the fifth time, Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message, and in his hand was an unsealed letter [6] in which was written: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem says it is true—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and therefore you are building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you are about to become their king [7] and have even appointed prophets to make this proclamation about you in Jerusalem: ‘There is a king in Judah!’ Now this report will get back to the king; so come, let us meet together.”
Having singularly failed with their first three tactics, Nehemiah’s enemies resorted to a simple, low cost, low risk ploy: they take the truth (Jerusalem is a city with a history of sedition), twist it to suit the narrative (Nehemiah wants to become king), spice it up with a bit of Jewish tradition (the use of prophets for the proclamation) and all of a sudden they have a plausible lie to send back to the king. Their clear aim is to get Nehemiah to meet them on that neutral ground a few days’ walk from Jerusalem, where they can safely get him out of the way.
Evil, but ingenious.
It’s a ploy that is used many, many times today. Those with evil intentions tried to turn the church against the state during Covid. They have buried well-intentioned, but not well-educated, believers in a series of rabbit holes and manufactured controversies that cause them to doubt the very industries on which they depend (health care in particular) so they will buy useless, or even harmful, medication from them. They get them so locked into controversies that they would rather promote alternative ‘facts’ than they would the Gospel.
This is the worst distraction of all.
Let me tell you why:
It is against the very nature and character of God.
Why?
Because God is truth. He is the actual embodiment of truth:
John 14:6 NIV
[6] Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 17:17 NIV
[17] Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
1 John 2:20-21 NIV
[20] But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. [21] I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
Christians – real Christians – do not believe at all in the existence of ‘alternative facts’. We do not believe in truth being defined as what’s true for you or what is convenient for you.
We believe in absolute truth: something is either absolutely true or absolutely a lie. There is no middle ground.
Anything that is not true is simply not of God.
John 8:44 NIV
[44] You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
It is simply not possible for someone to be a Christian on one hand and pyramid sell plastic junk as if it was precious on the other.
It is simply not possible for someone to be a Christian on one hand and sell a horse medication to humans by saying it can prevent cancer, when it clearly cannot.
It is simply not possible for someone to be a Christian on one hand and spread unfounded rumours about their government – or anyone, for that matter – on the other.
How will anyone believe our Gospel if we spend half of our time spreading lies?
Things that are not true must be confronted. Lies must be quashed. That is why Nehemiah cannot let this lie go:
Nehemiah 6:8 NIV
[8] I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”
First and foremost, above all other things, we ourselves must be people of integrity and tellers of truth. If we have previously been liars and scoundrels and purveyors of rumours and conspiracies, then it will be very hard for us to rebuilt the reputation we have built for ourselves.
But if we are to have any credibility as Christian and Gospel workers, then we must clear our land of lies and construct on it only the truth – nothing else. No embellishments. No exaggerations. No spin.
Only the truth.
And once we have done that, we will have a solid enough foundation to take our stand against lies and conspiracies.
Apart from derision, intimidation, distraction and misinformation, Nehemiah’s enemies used a fifth tactic to try to stymie the rebuilding of the Jerusalem city wall: that of Infiltration.
Infiltration
Nehemiah 6:10 NIV
[10] One day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, the son of Mehetabel, who was shut in at his home. He said, “Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple, and let us close the temple doors, because men are coming to kill you—by night they are coming to kill you.”
I lived through the Cold War. It wasn’t a nice experience to watch alerts on TV about what to do in the event of a nuclear strike, or to live in fear of the capricious temper of an atheist superpower.
I have spoken to people who lived under its jackboot. Their lives were a lot worse.
But if it wasn’t for the ‘hot’ war in Ukraine, I would say that we are still living in a Cold War.
Maybe you might say that I am paranoid to say that the enemies of the Gospel still use infiltration nowadays. Maybe you think I spent too much time obsessing over the Soviet war machine and it somehow drove me mad.
But it is true.
And it’s a very ancient tactic, because they used it in Nehemiah’s day.
Since all their other tactics had failed, Nehemiah’s enemies approached someone recognised as a prophet in Jerusalem and paid him to convince Nehemiah to carry out an act that would be detrimental to both him and the people.
By taking refuge in the Temple, which was the most significant and likely the most fortified building in the city, Nehemiah would not just be showing fear in front of the people he followed.
It was worse than that.
Entering the Temple if you were not a priest was an act of disobedience to God and a sacrilegious act. By locking the doors, he would also be preventing other people from worshipping. This would act would be a break in faith towards God and would have diminished his relationship with the people.
While on the surface it seemed reasonable, if Nehemiah had given in and done it, he would have deeply damaged two of his three sources of support in his endeavour.
This was a truly devious idea.
We cannot imagine that the church is a temptation-free space. Among the sheep, there are wolves. In the Garden of Eden, there are serpents. The threat of infiltration is not just one confined to Nehemiah, or even persecuted nations.
It even happened in the Gospels. Can we say if Judas truly had faith? He made no confession of it and died a betrayer.
It happened in the Early Church:
Romans 16:17-19 NIV
[17] I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. [18] For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. [19] Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
And it is still happening now. In China. In Belarus. In Russia. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if it was happening in the countries of North Africa and North Korea. It is a singularly devious method of exerting state control over a church.
And it’s happening right here, right now, where you are. It happens when people pretend on the surface to be our friend, but their purpose is to warp our beliefs, to twist our morality, to destroy our faith and to remake us in their image.
They are just as much infiltrators as a communist spy.
So what should we do? How should we spot such people?
The Old Testament tells us:
Deuteronomy 13:1-4 NIV
[1] If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, [2] and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” [3] you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. [4] It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
The first method is by what they say. If they are trying to persuade you to do things God has told you not to do, or to believe as true things God has said are lies, then they are a false prophet. They are a false friend.
Have nothing to do with them.
Jesus also tells us another way:
Matthew 7:15-20 NIV
[15] “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. [16] By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? [17] Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. [18] A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
The second is by what they do. Listen to me and listen very well: a man who flagrantly and rebelliously lives his life in a sinful manner is no friend of the Gospel and no friend of the church and no friend of Christians, no matter what he says. John told us that those who follow Him must walk as He did (1 John 2:6).
Of course, no-one can do this perfectly because we are not Jesus. However, if someone sets themselves in the position of a prophet in your life, where they seek to influence who you are and what you do, but their lives are lived far from Jesus and they show no signs, or any desire, to repent, then you should not follow them. Instead, you should flee from them.
In Shemiaiah and Noadiah, Nehemiah saw two people who were on his enemies’ payroll and were actively seeking to disrupt the work and dethrone him as leader. He reacted to this opposition the best way possible: he refuted it and kept building. He refused to allow them any influence over his life.
And that is how we must react when people behave like this towards us. Deny them the influence they crave; decide to follow God.
That’s it.
Conclusion
Nehemiah 6:15 NIV
[15] So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.
As well as its historical cathedrals and castles, European architecture also has another feature we talk a lot less about:
Follies.
Follies are grandiose and ostentatious building projects that were started out by land owners with more money than sense. However, the money ran out and they were left with a half-finished building. Stourhead in Wiltshire has ten of them in a single estate!
The Bible says this about those who set out to build but never finish:
Luke 14:28-30 NIV
[28] “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? [29] For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, [30] saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
One of the major obstacles to rebuilding a shattered and broken life is the fear that you will not finish the job: that others will see your folly of a life and make fun of you, telling you that it was all a big waste of time and effort.
If that is how you feel, I want you to read these verses:
Philippians 2:12-13 NIV
[12] Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, [13] for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Philippians 1:3-6 NIV
[3] I thank my God every time I remember you. [4] In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy [5] because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, [6] being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
You work. God works beside you. He will finish His work.
Do you know what that means?
You will not be a folly. You will be rebuilt, no matter how shattered and broken your life is.
In Nehemiah chapters 4 and 6 we saw almost relentless attacks by Israel’s enemies on the workers on the wall. They could not carry out a full frontal attack. Not while Nehemiah bore the king’s mandate.
But what they could do, they tried.
Five tactics were used against the Jews: Derision, Intimidation, Distraction, Misinformation, Infiltration.
After reading about these five tactics, maybe you are apprehensive, or maybe downright afraid. After all, they are formidable tactics. Maybe you dread them being deployed against you and your church.
But there is no reason to fear.
Do you know why?
Because they failed!
That is a crucial aspect of these chapters. They failed. Every attack against Nehemiah and his people failed its purpose. The walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt, and in a very short time frame.
Let me take you to a truly special promise for the people of the Lord:
Isaiah 54:17 NIV
[17] no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.
And do you want to know why? Hundreds of years later, Paul explained it:
Romans 8:28 NIV
[28] And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
This verse wasn’t written from a theological high tower or the suite of a five star hotel. Paul wrote this while under severe, life-threatening persecution from his own people and from the Romans. He also endured the pressure of caring for many churches across the known world (2 Corinthians 11:28-29).
Yet still, facing all those severe threats on a daily basis (2 Corinthians 11:24-27), Paul could still say that God works all things – even the persecution and the torture – to our good.
Think about it. Just think about it. The devil and his minions come against us with the same tactics they have used for centuries which, in some situations, we have to admit have been successful.
But if we trust in God and keep our focus on the task He had given us, they will be defeated.
What’s more, even the very blows they strike against us will be for our good.
And let’s imagine that somehow they take our life. Then we go to heaven!
This is why Christians in God’s service are unbeatable and indestructible and undefeatable.
We win. No matter what happens to us, we win.
You might not particularly feel like a winner right now. In the heat of the battle and the sheer hard slog of rebuilding a broken life, few people do.
But you are. In Christ, you are.
I want to show you one last point. It’s clear that Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem were a right royal pain for Nehemiah. He must have been tempted to eliminate them from the equation; to pay someone to take their lives. It must have seemed like the easiest way out.
But look what we see in Ephesians;
Ephesians 6:10-14 NIV
[10] Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. [11] Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. [12] For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. [13] Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. [14] Stand firm then...
Our job is not to eliminate and obliterate our enemies. Our job is to stand and let God carry out His vengeance on our behalf in His time.
Romans 12:19 NIV
[19] Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.
God sees. God knows. God will repay them.
And He will also reward you.
So lift your head, Christian. God will finish the work He began in you. You will be victorious.
Just take your stand. Hold the line.
You will win the day.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I thank You and I praise You for the essential truth of these chapters, that if I work with You to build Your Kingdom in my life and the lives of others then ultimately I will be successful. Show me what this means for me. Give me Your vision of what my life should be like and work with me to fulfil it, I pray. Amen.
Questions
What are the five tactics used by Nehemiah’s enemies to stymie the work on the wall? Have you seen anything similar?
Did they work? Will they work in your life?
What made the difference for Nehemiah? How will you apply this to your life?
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