When Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies heard that I had rebuilt the wall and that no gap was left in it-though at this time I had not installed the doors in the gates-Sanballat and Geshem sent me a message:  “Come let’s meet together in the villages of the Ono Valley.”  But they were planning to harm me.

So I sent messengers to them saying,  “I am doing a great work and cannot come down.  Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”  Four times they sent me the same proposal,  and I gave them the same reply.

Sanballat sent me this same message a fifth time by his aide, who had an open letter in his hand.  In it was written:   It is reported among the nations-and Geshem agrees-that you and the Jews plan to rebel.  This is the reason you are building the wall.  According to these reports, you are to become their king and have even set up the prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf:  “There is a king in Judah.”  These rumors will be heard by the king.  So come, let’s confer together.

Then I replied to him,  “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are inventing them in your own mind.”  For they were all trying to intimidate us, saying,  “They will become discouraged in the work, and it will never be finished.”

But now, my God, strengthen me.    Nehemiah 6:1-8

There are many wonderful life lessons to be learned from the book of Nehemiah.  Nehemiah was a man of God who had tremendous focus.  He prayed before speaking or acting.  We can all learn from that.  He wasn’t distracted even with threats of violence.  He pressed on in doing the work that God had called him to do.  Oh, if we all could have this focus, right? Nehemiah is rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. He has faced opposition from Sanballat and some of his cohorts.   In this particular scripture passage, the wall is almost completed.  Nehemiah and the other workers have been taunted, ridiculed and endured threats of violence.  They have had to start arming themselves while working and posting security at their work site.  Now Sanballat the main character who is stirring up the trouble, along with his buddies Tobiah and Geshem, is once more trying to stop Nehemiah from doing the work that God has called him to do.  But Nehemiah is not going to fall for this.

Let’s take a look at our scripture passage today and see what we can take from it.  First of all, Nehemiah’s enemies send him a message that might have read something like this.  “Hey man we are sorry for the trouble we have caused in the past, why not come on over to the Ono Valley and have a drink with us and we will make a truce and let bygones be bygones.  Maybe we can just start all over and be friends.”  But immediately after it says, “But they were planning to harm me.”  God gave Nehemiah enough good sense, or discernment to know that Sanballat was not sincere.  He knew that this was a set up.

But Nehemiah’s reply is one of my favorite verses in the Bible.  Nehemiah replied,  “I am doing a great work and cannot come down.  Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?”  This short verse says so much.  First, Nehemiah says that he is doing a great work.  When God calls us to do something, even something that may seem minor, we are doing a great work.  He tells him that he cannot come down.  The word, down, has a negative connotation in our society.  When we are having a bad day, we say that we are down.  When things start going better we say things are looking up.  Your parents warn you not to let bad influences drag you down.  Nehemiah tells Sanballat that he cannot come down.  When we are dealing with evil people, our focus needs to be upward, toward God.  We are often tempted to go down to their level.  We should never do that.  Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we should mimic evil behavior or treat evil people the way that they treat us.  Now when God calls us to do a great work, the devil wants us to come down from what we are doing so that the work will stop.  We must resist that temptation.  The devil will do his best to distract us, we must stay focused.

Know that the devil uses people to destroy us and our witness.  The devil is very persistent.  Four times Sanballat and his little group sent this message to Nehemiah and four times, Nehemiah refused to come down.  The fifth time, Sanballat sends a message that makes it look like he has Nehemiah’s best interest at heart.  You know the old, “Hey, I’m just trying to help you,” routine.  He basically tells Nehemiah that the rumors going around might get him into trouble with the king.  He implies that they may need to put their heads together to do some damage control.  Yeah, right!  Nehemiah calls him on his lie and tells him that this is not true, he’s making it up.  Fear and anxiety can stop us in our tracks.  Sanballat thought that if Nehemiah thought that he was in trouble with the king that this would scare him into meeting with him.  Wrong!  Nehemiah was not about to fall for this.

Now if you have a chance to read the entire book of Nehemiah, I strongly encourage you to do so.  But one thing we see about Nehemiah throughout the book is that he is  a praying man.  He doesn’t rely on his own instinct, he relies solely on God.  So, of course as he hears what Sanballat is saying, he prays to God and asks God to strengthen him.  Sanballat had hoped that even if Nehemiah didn’t come down, that he would become so worried about the rumor that he would be too distracted to continue the work that God had called him to do.  Does that sound familiar?

Has God called you to do a great work?  Maybe he has called you to be a parent that teaches your children to honor God.  Maybe he has called you to work in a dark place where the majority of your co-workers are unsaved.  Maybe he has called you to live a life of example for those around you. Maybe he has called you to start a bible study.  Whatever it is that God has called you to do, know that the devil is trying his best to stop you.  He will put many obstacles in your way.  Memorize Nehemiah 6:3, and let the devil know that you are doing a great work and will not fall for his schemes.  Refuse to come down and stop the work.  Keep your focus high on things above.

Stay focused and have a great day!