ROOTED RENEGADE

Nehemiah 6:1-8

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[a] 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.

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—andGeshem[b] says it is true—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, andtherefore you are building the wall.Moreover, according to these reportsyou are about to become their king7 andhave even appointed prophets to makethis 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.”

8 I sent him this reply: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head.”

Giants will challenge you to stop doing what the Lord has called you to so that you engage in unnecessary battle with them. We can see in this passage that Nehemiah refused. He knew the challenge was a distraction and he stood firm in his YES to God to rebuild.

We must ask ourselves some questions if we are to continue to do the work God has called us to and not stop because of a giant.

1. Where are you being challenged to forfeit right now?
2. Where has this happened in the past?
3. Whose voice has become louder? The giants or God’s?

There are two important lessons we can learn from this passage of Nehemiah. 

1. We cannot take our eyes of Jesus, even when building, because He is the only One who can defeat our enemies.
2. Prayer and trust is essential. We must pray that God defeat our enemies and trust that our prayers are heard knowing He will answer.

God does not assign us to tasks just to see us fail. Though they may be challenging our comfort levels, self-imposed limitations, and fixing the lenses in which we see through, it doesn’t mean we will fall on our faces in complete failure.

We must keep building. We must keep standing. We must keep praying. We must stay fixed on Jesus. 

Truthfully, it isn’t about us. It’s about those we are meant to help. Nehemiah knew he was assigned to build the wall, so any challenged he faced, he gave it back to God. It was the only way he could stay the course and not buckle under the giants pressure.

Stay the course friends. Stop doing the heavy lifting on your own and give up striving. Striving leads to burnout and burnout leads us to forfeiture. Giants know that. So face the challenges head on knowing that God is by your side and will see you through.

Faythe